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HeliotyPe  Printing  Co.,  230  Devonshire  Street,  Boston. 


HISTORY 


OF   THE 


TOWN  OF  FRANKLIN, 

MASS.; 

FROM    ITS   SETTLEMENT   TO   THE   COMPLETION    OF 
ITS    FIRST   CENTURY, 


2d  March,    1878; 


Genealogical   Notices  of  its   Earliest  Families,  Sketches 

OF  ITS  Professional  Men,  and  a  Report  of 

the  Centennial  Celebration. 


By  MORTIMER    BLAKE, 

aEMBER  OF  Old  Colony  Historical  Society  ;  Honorary  Member  op  New  England 
Histoeic-Genealooical  Society. 


FEANKLIN,  MASS. 

PUBLISHED   BY  THE  COMMITTEE   OF  THE  TOWN, 
1879. 


COPYRIGHT  SECURED  BY  THE  AUTHOR. 


J.  A.  &  H.  A.  RblD,  Printers,  Providence,  R.  I. 


FJ6G 


INTRODUCTION. 


At  the  annual  town  meeting  held  in  March,  A.  D.  187G,  a  re- 
port was  presented  bj-  a  committee  previously  chosen  by  the  town, 
consisting  of  Messrs.  Waldo  Daniels,  Steplien  W.  Richardson, 
William  M.  Thayer,  AVilliam  Rockwood,  and  Adin  D.  Sargent,  to 
whom  was  referred  the  subject  of  the  celebration  of  the  one  hun- 
dredth anniversary  of  the  incorporation  of  the  town. 

Among  the  recommendations  embodied  in  this  report  was  the 
following :  — 

"  That  a  history  of  the  town  be  prepared  and  published,  in 
which  the  important  events  of  its  earlj'  settlement  and  the  suc- 
ceeding municipal  transactions  shall  be  recorded  —  including  also, 
so  far  as  practicable,  its  interest  in  and  the  part  sustained  by  its 
citizens  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  the  War  of  1812,  and  the  late 
Rebellion  ;  also  its  ecclesiastical  and  educational  work,  the  growth 
and  development  of  our  manufacturing  interests,  and  of  all  that 
pertains  to  its  prosperity  as  a  township." 

The  report  was  accepted  and  the  committee  were  authorized  bj' 
the  town  to  carry  out  the  plan  presented. 

The  committee  were  unanimous  in  their  choice  of  historian — - 
Bev.  Mortimer  Blake,  D.  D.,  of  Taunton,  Mass.  His  marked 
ability  and  well-known  antiquarian  researches,  especially  con- 
nected with  the  early  histoiy  of  Franklin,  abundantly  qualified 
him  for  this  important  work. 

Dr.  Blake  with  some  reluctance  entered  upon  the  task,  which 
he  would  not  have  undertaken  for  any  town  but  his  own. 

At  the  annual  town  meeting,  in  March,  1878,  the  committee 
was  enlarged  by  the  addition  of  five  members  —  Messrs.  A.  St. 
John  Chambre,  Henry  M.  Greene,  James  P.  Ray,  Paul  B.  Clark, 


iwii>o:vA'=;n 


4  PREFACE. 

and  Edward  A.  Eand,  to  assist  in  the  accumulating  duties  and 
preparations  arising  from  the  approach  of  the  centennial  celebra- 
tion. To  the  united  committee  Dr.  Blake  presented  his  valuable 
manuscript,  which,  after  examination  and  discussion,  was  unani- 
mouslj'  accepted  and  ordered  to  be  printed. 

In  presenting  this  volume  to  the  citizens  of  Franklin  and  the 
public  generall}',  the  committee  feel  that  the  reputation  of  the 
author  as  a  historian  and  scholar  is  sufllcieut  pledge  of  its  value. 
They  are  confident  that  it  will  be  found  to  be  a  rare  history, 
abounding  in  facts,  incidents,  narratives,  biogTaphy,  genealogy, 
and  whatever  belongs  to  a  superior  town  history  —  all  enriched  by 
the  author's  terse  style  and  originality  of  thought. 

Waldo  Daniels,  A.  St.  Joun  Chambre, 

S.  W.  ElCHAHDSON,  H.  M.  GliEENB, 

William  M.  Thayek,        James  V.  Hat, 
William  Rockwood,         Paul  B.  Clabk, 
Adin  D.  Sakgent,  Edwaed  A.  Eand, 

Centennial  Committee. 
Franklin,  December,  1878. 


HISTORICAL   ADDRESS. 


Mr.  Peesident,  the  Honored  Chief  Magistrate  of  this  Common- 
tvealth  and  his  associates  in  office,  kinsfolk  and  friends  — 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen  :  A  hundred  years  are  crowding 
to  tell  their  tales  to-day.  It  will  not,  therefore,  permit  much 
time  for  introductory  salutations.  We  will  just  congratulate 
one  another  that  we  are  allowed  to  be  here,  at  the  centennial 
epoch  of  this  grand  old  town,  give  a  welcome  hand  to  the  sons 
and  daughters  who  have  come  back  (some  from  long  distances) 
to  this  home  of  their  childhood,  and  then  we  will  stand  aside 
to  let  the  century  talk  of  the  men  and  their  deeds  who  have 
given  us  a  town  history  worth  commemorating. 

I  must  preface,  however,  that  it  was  with  great  timidity  I 
consented  to  be  the  spokesman  of  this  hour.  Living  so  far 
and  so  long  from  the  som-ces  of  information,  and  crowded  with 
the  never-finished  work  of  my  vocation,  it  has  only  been  by 
short  visits  and  broken  explorations  that  I  have  searched 
records  to  collate  the  story  of  this  town's  past.  If  the  results 
seem  meagre,  please  charge  it  —  not  to  want  of  interest  in  the 
seeking,  but  to  lack  of  time  and  material.  And,  had  it  not 
been  for  the  zealous  co-operation  of  your  committee  in  charge 
of  this  celebration,  and  of  other  interested  citizens,  and  the 
cordial  responses  of  the  town  clerks  into  whose  records  the 
sources  of  om*  town  history  run  back,  and  of  Wrentham  in 
particular,  the  present  address  would  be  still  more  meagre. 
To  all  who  have  aided  in  this  service,  let  me  here  present  my 
cordial  acknowledgments.  So  much  only  will  my  short  hour 
permit  me  to  say  for  introduction. 


b  HISTORY   OP   FRANKLIN. 

The  life  and  roundness  of  oiu-  story  have  decayed  in  the 
lapse  of  time,  leaving  but  a  skeleton  of  dismembered  facts. 
I  am  appointed  to  wire  together  these  scattered  bones  and 
reclothe  the  framework  of  our  past  with  the  motor  forces  and 
flush  of  a  recovered  life.  If  I  can  so  much  as  make  the  cen- 
tury stand  before  you,  I  shall  feel  amply  rewarded,  even  if  the 
countenance  be  lack-lustre  and  homely. 

The  century  we  commemorate  to-day  by  no  means  carries 
us  back  to  the  beginning  of  the  town.  To  reach  the  forces 
which  have  shaped  its  character  and  history,  we  must  go  still 
further  back  by  more  than  another  hundred  years.  Seventeen 
hundred  and  seventy-eight  was  only  when  this  town  became 
of  age  and  took  licr  place  among  her  sister  towns.  Her  child- 
hood dates  really  from  1660,  when  her  mother,  Wrentham, 
first  came  to  live  in  Wollomonopoag.  But  her  birthday  was 
close  upon  the  beginnings  of  the  Massachusetts  colony.  To 
compass,  therefore,  the  full  history  of  this  town,  we  should 
confer  with  the  original  Puritan  immigrants  of  1630  around 
the  Bay.  But  such  a  quest  would  cover  two  hundred  and  fifty 
years,  a  period  that  cannot  be  compressed  within  this  hour's 
review.  I  must,  therefore,  content  myself  Avith  the  humbler 
aim  of  selecting  what  may  seem  to  be  the  hinge-facts  on  which 
the  course  and  character  of  our  town  history  have  turned. 

These  facts  mainly  cluster  about  three  points  :  First,  The 
rights  of  the  settlers  to  the  soil ;  Second,  The  character  and 
aims  of  the  settlers ;  and  Third,  The  subsequent  development 
of  their  history. 

It  may  be  of  no  present  consequence  to  learn  by  what  title 
these  goodly  farms  are  held  ;  but  it  is  a  satisfaction  to  know 
that  our  ancestors  were  not  lawless  trespassers  upon  their 
original  Indian  occupants.  And  the  evidence  lies  abundant  in 
the  colonial  charter,  the  laws  of  its  courts  and  the  purchase 
deeds  of  the  settlers.  By  their  Patent,  the  lands  belonged  to 
the  settlers  as  a  company  and  not  as  individuals.  But  they 
had  the  right  of  distribution  among  themselves,  and  they  turned 
to  this  task  with  becoming  gravity.  As  a  preliminary  caution, 
their  court  had  voted  (March  4,  1630)  that  "  no  man  shall 


HISTORICAL   ADDRESS.  7 

buy  land  of  Indians  without  leave  had  of  the  court ; "  and,  as 
an  immediate  necessity,  it  votes  that  "  all  swamps  of  above 
one  hundred  acres  be/ree  to  any  freeman  to  fetch  wood." 

But,  interesting  as  it  might  be,  we  must  not  spend  time 
in  waiting  upon  this  court  and  reporting  its  cautious  and  wise 
conclusions.  A  few  only,  which  touch  our  present  inquiry, 
will  be  quoted.  To  prevent  the  scattering  and  weakening  of 
the  settlers,  no  house  shall  be  built  above  half  a  mile  from 
the  meeting-house  without  leave  of  the  court.  A  special  com- 
mittee shall  set  out  and  bound  all  towns  and  settle  all  bound- 
ary difficulties,  and  towns  may  divide  up  their  own  lands.  As 
we  listen  to  the  debates  and  orders  of  this  Court  of  Assist- 
ants, we  gather  these  conclusions  of  their  policy  :  None  but 
freemen  acceptable  to  the  court  shall  have  any  lands ;  such 
shall  have  lands  only  as  companies  and  in  masses  of  territory ; 
for  signal  service  to  the  colony,  however,  single  persons  are 
paid  in  special  grants  of  land  :  all  grants  to  companies  or  to 
individuals  are  to  be  set  and  laid  out  by  and  with  the  approval 
of  the  court.  The  occupants  of  their  soil  are  thus  to  be  as- 
sured friends  of  the  colony  ;  and  for  a  man  to  become  a  free- 
man and  proprietor  of  a  farm,  is  an  endorsement  of  his 
goodness  by  the  Puritan  standard. 

The  court,  further,  is  particular  to  transfer  only  its  own 
title  to  the  soil.  If  the  lands  granted  be  subject  to  any  Indian 
claims,  these  must  be  extinguished  by  the  towns  themselves. 
Thus,  Concord  is  directed,  in  1637,  to  purchase  the  ground 
within  their  limits  of  the  Indians,  and  an  agent  is  chosen  in 
1638  to  agree  with  the  Indians  for  land  in  Watertown,  Cam- 
bridge, and  Boston.  But  in  1639  John  Bayley  is  fined  five 
pounds  for  buying  land  of  Indians  without  leave.  We  care- 
fully note  these  sample  acts,  as  vindicating  the  honesty  of  the 
Puritans  towards  the  Indians.  They  are  in  accord  with  the 
general  letter  from  the  governor  and  council  of  the  New  Eng- 
land Company,  dated  Gravesend,  April  17,  1629.  "If  any  of 
the  salvages  Ptend  right  of  inheritance  to  all  or  any  Pt  of  the 
lands  graunted  in  or  patent,  wee  pray  yo'r  endeav'r  to  p'rchase 
their  tytle,  that  wee  may  avagde  the  least  scruple  of  intrusion." 


8  HISTORY   OP   FRANKLIN. 

Still  lingering  about  this  venerable  court  of  the  governor 
and  his  assistants,  our  ears  catch  the  words  of  an  order  in 
■which  we  immediately  feel  an  interest.  The  session  is  at  New- 
towne,  Sept.  2, 1635,  and  the  order  is,  "  that  there  shall  be  a 
plantation  settled  about  two  miles  above  the  falls  of  Charles 
river,  on  the  northeast  side  thereof,  to  have  ground  lying  to  it 
on  both  sides  the  river,  both  upland  and  meadow,  to  be  laid 
out  hereafter  as  the  court  shall  direct."  This  must  have 
something  to  do  with  Franklin,  for  it  is  on  one  side  of  Charles 
river.  We  drop  into  the  session  of  next  year,  Sept.  8,  1636, 
to  read  on  its  record  :  '•  Ordered  that  the  plantation  to  be  set- 
tled above  tlie  falls  of  Charles  river  shall  have  three  years' 
immunity  from  public  charges  as  Concord  had,  to  be  accounted 
from  the  1st  of  May  next  {i.  e.  1637)  ;  and  the  name  of  said 
plantation  is  to  be  Deddham,  to  enjoy  all  that  land  on  the 
southerly  and  easterly  side  of  Charles  river  not  formerly 
granted  to  any  town  or  particular  persons,  and  also  to  have 
five  miles  square  on  the  other  side  of  the  river."  The  courts 
of  those  days  followed  rather  than  led  public  opinion,  and  we 
find,  back  of  this  large  grant  of  territory  —  including  now 
thirteen  towns  and  parts  of  four  others  —  the  impulse  of 
twenty-two  solid  men,  ancestors,  some  of  them,  of  persons 
here  present.* 

Our  genealogical  line  is  Franklin,  Wrentham,  Dedliam,  and 
this  line  would  1)6  the  full  path  of  our  history,  starting  from 
Newtowne  Sept.  2, 1635.  We  need  not  go  back  even  so  far 
as  Dedham,  for  others  have  already  told  its  story.  We  will, 
however,  on  our  way  to  Wrentham,  look  in  upon  Dedham  long 
enough  to  form  some  idea  of  our  ancestral  beginnings.  Rev. 
John  Allen,  the  first  minister,  or  Michael  Metcalf,  the  head 
selectman,  can  tell  us  their  story.  They  described  their  char- 
acter in  the  name  they  have  given  to  their  town,  "Content- 
ment," and  in  this  peaceable  prelude  to  their  covenant,  "  We, 
whose  names  are  hereunto  subscribed,  in  the  fear  and  rever- 


*  These  towns,  following  the  compass,  are  Dedham,  Needham,  Natick  in 
part,  Dover,  Sherborne  in  part,  iNIedlield,  Metlway,  Bellingham  mostly,  Frank- 
lin, Wrentham,  Norfolk,  Walpole,  Foxboro  in  part,  Norwood. 


HISTORICAL    ADDUESS.  9 

ence  of  our  Almighty   God,  mutually  and  severally  promise 
amongst  ourselves  and  each  other,  to  profess  and  practice  one 
faith  according  to  that  most  perfect  rule  the  foundation  where- 
of is  everlasting  love.''''     Happily  named,  Contentment. 

Some  of  the  settlers,  however,  especially  John  Dwight  and 
his  son  Timothy,  John  Page,  and  John  Rogers,  are  not  con- 
tented. They  remember  the  old  home  town  in  England  whence 
they  came,  and  especially  their  minister,  Rev.  John  Rogers, 
grandson  of  the  proto-martyr,  John  ;  and  for  love  of  him  and 
of  it  they  change  the  name  of  Contentment  to  Dedham. 

It  is  but  a  few  minutes'  walk  along  the  short  street  east  of 
the  present  court-house.  The  ninety  log-houses  are  nearly  alike, 
thatched  with  long  grass  from  the  meadows,  each  with  a  lad- 
der from  the  ground  to  the  chimney,  and  standing  near  the 
front  edge  of  its  twelve  acres  ;  wJiich  are  dotted  with  stumps 
and  bounded  with  uneven  pole  fences.  In  the  rear  of  these 
lots  are  the  fields  or  pastures,  called  "  herd  walks  "  or  "  cow- 
commons,"  simply  cleared  of  timber  and  burnt  over  each 
spring  under  the  oversight  of  the  wood-reeves.  Bounding 
the  pastures  outside  is  the  virgin  forest,  filled  with  wolves 
more  than  dogs  and  hunters  can  keep  under ;  although  there 
is  a  bounty  upon  their  scalps,  and  there  are  regulation  muskets 
from  three  feet  nine  inches  to  four  feet  three  inches  barrel 
length,  and  such  noted  marksmen  as  Sargent  Ellis  and  Dea. 
Ephraim  Wilson  behind  them. 

In  one  of  these  houses  Michael  Metcalf  is  keeping  school 
for  the  year  for  £20— two-thirds  part  in  wheat  at  the  town  or 
country  rate,  and  the  other  part  in  corn  at  the  said  rate,  to  be 
kept,  the  record  says,  "  at  the  school-house,  except  the  wether 
be  extreme  to  hinder,  and  then  he  is  to  attend  at  his  own 
dwelling-house.  The  town  to  have  the  hartli  laid  in  the 
school-house  forthwith,  and  windows  made  fitt,  and  wood  for 
the  fire  to  be  laid  in.  In  the  heat  of  the  weather,  if  the  said 
Michael  desire  to  make  use  of  the  meeting-house,  he  may  do 
so,  provided  the  house  be  kept  clean  and  the  windows  be  made 
good  if  broken    (as  if  the  young  D  wights  and  Fishers  and 


10  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

Metcalfs  of  that  day  ever  threw  stones  !),  the  school  to  begin 
the  19th  of  the  present  month  (1656)  and  the  pay  quarterly." 

In  another  house  Michael  Powall  has,  since  1646,  kept  a 
licensed  ordinary,  wliere  we  may  find  a  dinner  or  a  bed.  Near 
by  him,  if  exliausted  with  our  toiling  through  the  woods  from 
Boston,  we  may  find  something  stronger — as  the  selectmen 
petitioned  in  1658  that,  "  in  regard  of  their  remoteness  from 
Boston,  Left.  Joshua  Fisher  (one  of  their  cliief  men)  liave 
liberty  to  sell  strong  waters,  to  supply  the  necessity  of  such 
as  shall  stand  in  need  thereof  in  that  town."  Here  are  the 
elements  of  a  promising  civilization  !  Besides,  there  is  Capt. 
Eleazur  Lusher  "  impowered  to  marry ;  "  Mr.  Edward  Allen, 
John  Kingsbury,  and  John  Luson  to  "  order  small  business 
imder  20  sliillings ; "  John  Haward  constable,  a  barrel  of  gun- 
powder, a  train  band  and  a  small  cannon,  or  drake,  presented 
by  the  colony  to  this  now  called  "  out  towne." 

But  it  is  drawing  towards  1660,  and  stories  are  afloat  of  a 
mine  of  some  kind  of  metal  near  certain  ponds,  about  thirteen 
miles  to  the  westward  of  Dedliam,  which  must  be  somewhere 
in  this  region. 

Tlie  people,  alert  for  any  increase  of  their  hard-earned  and 
small  incomes,  talk  it  over  when  they  come  together  "  in  a 
lecture  day,"  and  the  selectmen  send  out  (22°  4m.,  1660)  four 
men  "  to  view  the  lands  both  upland  and  meadow  near  about 
the  ponds  by  George  Indian's  wigwam,  and  make  report  of 
what  they  find  to  the  selectmen  in  the  first  opportunity  they 
can  take."  Six  months  after,  their  report  gives  so  much  en- 
couragement that  two  other  men  are  sent  to  compound  with 
the  Indians  for  their  rights  to  the  soil. 

But  great  enterprises  like  the  settlement  of  new  towns  in  the 
wilderness  must  move  slowly  and  cautiously.  For  it  is  no 
trifling  afternoon  project  to  vacate  a  home,  though  it  be  just 
built  of  logs  and  thatch  in  a  stump-covered  lot,  and  to  forsake 
companions  who  have  worked  in  the  fields  and  sat  in  the  rude 
meeting-house  together,  and  to  start  everything  anew  in  the 
forests  twenty  miles  of  unbroken   patlis   away.     We  cannot 


HISTORICAL   ADDRESS.  11 

appreciate  their  obstacles  or  their  hesitancies.  But  we  do 
admire  their  cautious  dehberations  and  prudent  concUisions. 

Althougli  the  good  people  of  Dedham  had  talked  together 
of  the  meadows  towards  the  west,  where  they  had  cut  hay  in 
1649,  and  of  the  great  ponds  towards  the  Narragansett  country, 
and  now  especially  of  the  mines  near  them,  and  of  the  report 
of  the  men  sent  to  explore  the  western  wilderness  more  thor- 
oughly, still  when  the  motion  was  made  (27th  March,  1661) 
to  begin  a  plantation  and  give  600  acres  for  its  encouragement, 
some  objected.  But  the  movement  had  begun  already.  Ten 
men,  at  least,  had  gone  to  break  ground  in  Wollomonopoag, 
as  this  region  was  called.  As  soon  as  they  heard  of  this 
encouragement  of  the  600  acres,  they  claimed  it  as  pioneers 
of  the  projected  settlement.  You  will  recognize  their  names, 
if  not  the  persons :  Anthony  Fisher,  Sargent  Ellis,  Robert 
Ware,  James  Thorp,  Isaac  Bullard,  Samuel  Fisher,  Samuel 
Parker,  John  Farrington,  Ralph  Freeman,  and  Sargent  Stevens. 
Some  of  their  descendants  are  pi'obably  here  to-day. 

But  Dedham  could  not  be  in  such  haste.  It  had  chosen  a 
committee  to  attend  to  three  things  in  due  order:  First,  "to 
determine  when  men  present  themselves  for  entei'tainment 
there,  who  are  meet  to  be  accepted  ; "  Second,  to  "  proportion 
to  each  man,  thus  accepted,  his  part  in  the  600  acres  ; "  Third, 
to  "  order  the  settling  of  the  plantation  in  reference  to  situa- 
tion, highways,  convenient  place  for  a  meeting-house,  a  lot  or 
lots  for  church  officers,  with  such  other  things  necessary  as 
may  hereafter  be  proposed."  Yet  this  committee  made  com- 
mendable haste,  for  before  the  year  1661  closed  they  reported, 
and  the  town  of  Dedham  adopted  their  boundaries  and  plan 
of  a  settlement.  But  now  the  cautiousness  has  shifted  to  the 
side  of  the  colonists.  They  have  some  grave  problems  to  lay 
before  their  townsmen  before  they  depart  into  this  wilderness 
of  Wollomonopoag.  The  selectmen  of  Dedham,  therefore,  call 
a  meeting  of  the  proprietors  of  the  town,  12th  January,  1662, 
to  hear  these  propositions.  The  prospective  colonists  say, 
through  their  committee,  Anthony  Fisher,  Robert  Ware, 
Richard  Ellis,  and  Isaac  Bullard,  that  they  have  secured  but 


12  HISTORY    OF   FRANKLIN. 

ten  men,  and  they  cannot  go  with  so  small  a  company  — 
"  they  are  not  desirous  to  leave  the  world  altogether,"  as  they 
put  it,  but  will  go  if  they  can  "  proceed  in  a  safe  way."  For 
their  justification,  be  it  said,  it  was  not  Indians,  nor  solitude, 
nor  hard  work  in  a  wilderness  which  they  were  afraid  of,  but 
a  jeoiDardy  of  their  legal  rights  and  privileges  of  citizenship. 
They  were  not  willing  to  enter  into  the  wolf's  den  without 
good  assurance  that  responsible  hands  were  hold  of  the  other 
end  of  the  rope  and  would  keep  hold  of  it. 

The  town  of  Dedham,  they  knew,  had  at  a  general  town 
meeting  already  approved  the  setting  up  of  a  plantation  at 
WoUomonopoag,  and  had  sent  two  men  to  inquire  of  the  Indi- 
ans about  their  title.  But  what  will  the  proprietors  of  Ded- 
ham do  about  it  ?  for  these  were  two  different  parties.  "Will 
they  make  the  way  safe  by  paying  the  Indians  and  giving  the 
lands  to  the  venturing  settlers  ?  The  proprietors,  and  not  the 
town,  you  remember,  owned  the  lands  not  already  granted  to 
individual  settlers  or  set  apart  for  public  use,  and  they,  and 
not  the  town,  must  sell  and  give  the  title  of  their  600  acres 
to  their  hesitating  colonists.  I  have  not  time  now  to  report 
the  discussion  of  this  grave  problem  in  that  proprietors'  meet- 
ing of  1662.  But  the  conclusion,  at  a  second  meeting  in  the 
next  month,  2d  March,  1663,  was  that  the  proprietors  could 
not  advise  the  settlement  in  the  present  circumstances,  but 
would  satisfy  for  the  necessary  expense  of  those  who  had 
broken  ground  at  WoUomonopoag.  So  the  project  seems  to 
be  exploded.  But  Timothy  Dwight  and  Richard  Ellis,  the  two 
agents  chosen  two  years  before,  in  1660,  to  confer  with  the 
Indians,  have,  meanwhile,  been  busy  in  dealing  with  the  wily 
"Wompanoags,  and  now,  in  1662,  bring  to  the  proprietors  a  re- 
port which  gives  a  new  aspect  to  the  problem. 

Philip  has  this  year  succeeded,  through  the  death  of  his 
father  Masassoit  and  elder  brother  Alexander,  to  the  headship 
of  the  tribe  of  the  Wampanoags,  and,  perhaps  to  collect  the 
means  for  his  projected  war  upon  the  settlements,  is  ready  to 
conclude  the  long  negotiations  for  his  lands.  By  the  aid  of 
Capt.  Thomas  Willett,one  of  the  Plymouth  commissioners,  long 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  13 

skilled  in  Indian  tactics  —  afterwards  the  first  mayor  of  New 
York  city,  and  whose  grave  lies  on  the  banks  of  BuUosk's  Cove 
in  Seekonk — the  Dedham  agents  have  purchased  and  secured 
a  deed  of  Wollomonopoag,  five  miles  square  (six  says  Worthing- 
ton)  for  £2-4  10s.,  which  sum  Captain  Willett  has  advanced  for 
the  town  out  of  his  own  pocket.  This  money  must  be  repaid  to 
the  generous  captain  and  the  newly-bought  land  must  supply 
the  means  of  payment. 

The  propi'ietors,  therefore,  at  this  same  meeting  of  March, 
1663,  vote  a  general  dividend  among  themselves,  both  of  the 
600  acres  set  apart  for  a  settlement  and  of  its  price  of  ^£160, 
one-quarter  to  be  paid  annually.  This  land  and  its  cost  is 
to  be  divided  according  to  each  one's  cow-common  rights. 
There  are  thirty-four  shares  of  the  600  acres  and  of  the  £160. 

These  cow-common  rights,  so  often  mentioned,  may  require 
an  explanation.  The  territory  belonged  to  the  proprietors  as 
a  company,  in  which  each  held  shares  in  pi'oportiou  to  his 
property  valuation.  The  ratio  was  one  common  right  per  each 
£8  of  estate.  The  number  of  acres  set  apart  for  pasturage 
was  in  proportion  to  the  numljer  and  needs  of  the  cattle 
owned  by  the  proprietors,  five  sheep  being  reckoned  equal 
to  one  cow,  and  each  owned  such  a  share  of  this  land,  or  so 
many  cow-common  rights,  as  one-eighth  of  his  property  valua- 
tion might  express  in  units.  The  whole  grant  or  township 
was  held  by  the  proprietors  in  a  similar  manner,  and  when 
five-acre,  eight-acre  divisions,  etc.,  were  subsequently  granted 
by  the  proprietors,  each  drew  five,  ten,  or  fifteen  acres  of  the 
common  land,  as  the  number  of  his  common  rights  might  be. 
For  many  years  the  business  of  proprietors  and  of  inhabitants 
were  transacted  in  common,  but  a  colonial  law  in  1720  organ- 
ized the  proprietary  as  a  separate  body  from  the  town,  and 
their  acts  disappear  from  the  municipal  records  and  mostly 
from  our  present  knowledge. 

Those  who  have  already  made  improvements  at  Wollomono- 
poag are  allowed  first  to  choose  their  lots.  I  count  nine  men, 
and  these  were  presumably  the  first  comers  to  Wollomonopoag 
to  settle.     You  may  recognize  among  them  your  grandfather's 


14  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

grandfather  :  Anthony  Fisher,  Jr.,  Sargt.  Richard  Ellis,  Robert 
Ware,  James  Thorp,  Isaac  BuUard,  Sani'l  Fisher,  Sam'l  Parker, 
Josh.  Kent,  and  Job  Farrington.  Good  Franklin  names,  most 
of  them.  To  them  are  to  be  added  Sam'l  Sheers  (the  first 
actual  settler  apparently),  Ralph  Freeman,  and  perhaps  Daniel 
Makiah.  Where  these  men  located  their  lots  it  is  not  possible 
now  accurately  to  determine.  But  the  record  says  the  first  lot 
was  "  to  be  where  the  Indians  have  broken  up  land  not  far  from 
the  place  intended  to  build  a  mill  at,"  which  was  where  the 
Eagle  Factory  now  stands.*  Perhaps  the  remaining  thirty- 
three  lots  went  southwards  to  the  meeting-house,  and  thence 
westward  along  the  two  present  main  streets  of  Wrentham. 

It  is  now  1662,  and  the  owners  of  tlic  thirty-four  lots  enter 
one  after  another,  either  in  person  or  by  proxy,  upon  the  occu- 
pation of  their  territory.  In  the  next  year,  1663,  they  lay  out 
their  first  highway,  with  the  sanction  of  the  selectmen  of  Ded- 
ham,  "  at  the  cast  end  of  their  lots."  Was  it  the  road  from 
the  present  meeting-house  of  Wrentham  towards  Franklin  ? 

The  five  succeeding  years  are  laboriously  spent  in  taming 
the  native  forests  for  fields  of  corn  and  rye,  building  their  log- 
houses,  fencing  in  their  pastures  and  watching  the  wolves.  We 
hear  nothing  from  them  but  the  echo  of  their  axes  against  the 
big  trees  until  16G8,  when  the  irrepressible  Indian  reappears. 
It  is  a  woman  this  time.  What  is  her  grievance  we  do  not 
know ;  but  her  absence  is  more  desirable  than  her  presence, 
and  she  herself  thinks  so,  for  at  a  town  meeting  in  Dedham, 
where  their  affairs  are  still  conducted, 4th  February,  1668,  Sarah 
herself  is  present  with  her  son  John  and  her  brother  George,  and 
requests  that  her  little  farm  of  ten  acres  among  the  white  men 
may  be  exchanged  for  a  tract  elsewhere.  The  proposal  is  ac- 
cepted, and  they  give  her  ten  acres  of  upland  in  exchange, 
with  liberty  to  take  fencing  stuff,  "  near  a  pond  about  two 
miles  westward  from  the  situation  of  the  township  at  WoUo- 


•  Such  is  tlie  current  interpretation;  bnt  Hon.  Ezra  Wilkinson,  in  his  explo- 
rations of  ancient  deeds,  has  concluded  ihat  this  first  lot  was  on  South  street, 
and  that  tins  was  the  first  street  laid  out  in  the  present  Wrentham. 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  15 

monopouge."  From  some  previous  allusions  to  George  Indian, 
we  suppose  the  ten  acres  quitted  by  Sarah  were  near  the  Eagle 
mill,  and  as  there  is  no  other  pond  "two  miles  westward" 
than  the  present  Uncas  pond  in  Franklin  —  on  whose  banks 
the  almshouse  farm  now  is  —  who  knows  but  the  Indian  Sarah 
and  her  son  John  and  brother  George  were  the  first  occupants 
of  our  poor  farm,  and  prophets  of  the  Indians'  coming  fate ! 
But  they  are  hardly  removed  to  their  new  quarters  when  the 
irrepressible  Philip  reappears.  At  least,  a  messenger  hurriedly 
comes  to  Dedham  to  say  that  Philip  is  at  WoUomonopoag  with 
more  lands  which  he  is  anxious  to  sell.  It  is  doubtful  to  the 
Dedhamites  what  claim  further  he  has  ;  but,  as  he  is  a  neigh- 
bor not  politic  to  provoke  in  those  ticklish  times,  Timothy 
Dwight  and  four  others  are  hurried  off  to  buy  up  whatever 
lands  he  may  have  to  offer,  "  provided  he  can  show  that  he  has 
any."  Suspicious  that  the  six  miles  square  he  had  sold  did 
not  cover  the  space  between  Dedham  and  the  western  line  of 
WoUomonopoag,  as  he  well  might  be,  he  claims  a  new-moon- 
shaped  lot  on  its  eastern  side,  including  part  of  the  present 
Walpole  and  up  to  the  lands  of  Cliickatabut,  sachem  of  the 
Neponsets  of  Sharon,  etc.  This  tract  is  also  purchased,  as  near 
as  we  can  ascertain,  for  £11  8d.,  and  is  accepted  by  the  town 
of  Dedham,  15th  November,  1669.  Before  Dedham  has  done 
with  these  dusky  peddlers  of  real  estate  it  pays  out  at  least 
£66  18s.  for  seven  different  purchases  within  its  boundaries, 
and  has  seven  different  Indian  deeds,  which  are  committed  to 
Dea.  Aldis  to  be  kept  for  the  town  in  a  box.  But  it  came  to 
pass  in  process  of  time  that  the  deacon's  children  wanted  the 
box  for  other  uses,  and  the  deeds,  like  so  many  other  now  in- 
valuable documents,  went  where  other  like  precious  papers 
have  gone,  and  are  going  yet,  for  want  of  some  vigilant  interest 
and  care.  But  our  fathers  honestly  paid  the  price  asked  by 
the  Indian  claimants  for  their  lands,  and  with  somewhat  better 
than  the  traditional  peck  of  beans,  at  which  nearly  all  towns 
are  reported  to  have  been  bought ;  so  that  they  cannot  be 
justly  charged  with  wronging  the  natives  of  their  soil.     These 


16  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

farms  are  held  by  equitable  purcliase  of  the  only  occupants 
who  could  justify  any  claim. 

With  the  lands  in  their  possession  by  grant  of  the  General 
Court  and  by  purchase  from  botli  the  natives  and  the  proprie- 
tors of  Dedham,  nothing  hinders  our  transferring  ourselves  to 
the  young  settlement,  not  yet  named,  at  Wollomonopoag. 
Even  while  signs  have  been  thickening  along  the  southern 
horizon,  and  among  the  Wampanoags  especially,  portending  a 
disturbance  to  these  pioneers,  they  have  been  pushing  on  their 
yomig  enterprise.  They  adopt  rules  for  the  due  management 
of  their  plantation,  among  which  are — that  each  proprietor  shall 
pay  one  shilling  and  sixpence  per  common  riglit  for  the  main- 
tenance of  a  minister ;  that  the  choice  of  a  minister  shall  be 
long  to  the  inhabitants  with  the  concurrence  of  the  Dedham 
proprietors  who  can  be  easily  consulted,  and  especially  of  the 
Dedham  minister,  Rev.  John  AUin,  the  ruling  Elder,  John 
Hunting,  Eleazer  Lusher,  the  head  man  in  civil  affairs  ;  and 
that  a  tax  of  two  shillings  per  common  right  be  paid  towards 
a  convenient  meeting-house,  of  which  John  Thurston,  Robert 
Ware,  and  Sargent  Fuller  are  to  be  the  building  committee. 
The  ministerial  candidate  seems  to  have  been  already  selected, 
for  within  twenty-five  days,  27th  December,  1669,  Mr.  Samuel 
Man  is  invited  and  the  choice  approved  by  the  Dedham  ad- 
visers. But  the  hindrances  to  his  acceptance  are  many,  and 
time  slips  along  for  three  years  and  more,  so  filled  with  other 
most  urgent  business,  not  the  least  of  which  is  watching  the 
Wampanoags,  before  the  full  arrangements  are  completed.  Mr. 
Man's  answer,  in  the  lltli  month  of  1672,  that  he  accepts 
their  propositions  "  in  case  they  be  performed  within  the  space 
of  a  year  and  a  half,"  hints  at  some  dilatoriness  possible  on 
the  part  of  the  settlers.  But  they  are  hurrying  as  fast,  no 
doubt,  as  those  rugged  times  will  permit.  Anxious,  may  be, 
to  secure  this  young  Harvard  graduate,  witliin  a  year  after  his 
call,  a  petition  for  incorporation  as  a  town  is  presented  to  the 
General  Court,  and  is,  with  astonishing  promptness,  granted 
on  the  same  day,  16th  October,  1673  ;  and  that  too,  when,  on 


HISTORICAL   ADDRESS.  17 

Rev.  Mr.  Bean's  testimony,  there  are  only  sixteen  families  in 
the  settlement.* 

But  while  these  few  families  are  getting  themselves  into 
comfortable  order,  building  a  o-rist-mill,  securing  a  blacksmith, 
etc.,  the  conspiracy  of  Philip  is  also  ripening,  and  within  three 
years  his  bands  of  warriors  dash  upon  the  frontier  towns  all 
along  the  line  from  Swaiisey  to  Hadley.  At  first  their  ravages 
arc  at  the  south  and  along  the  Connecticut  valley.  But  the 
smoke  of  their  presence  draws  nearer  and  nearer.  Hardly 
have  the  flames  died  down  in  Lancaster  before  the  sky  over 
Medfield  is  thick  with  smoke.  Wrentham  lies  next  in  their 
path,  and  only  ten  days,  from  the  10th  to  the  21st  of  February, 
1675,  0.  S.,  between  the  burning  of  Lancaster  and  Medfield  ! 
In  a  week  the  Indians  will  be  here.  Speedily  are  the  goods 
packed  and  sent  with  the  wives  and  children  back  toDedham, 
and  by  30th  March  the  deserted  houses  are  left  to  their  fate. 
A.  band  of  the  Narragansetts,  returning  from  Medfield,  set  fire 
to  the  empty  dwellings  and  burn,  tradition  says,  all  Init  two. 
It  was  a  vengeful  act,  perhaps  in  response  to  an  unexpected 
encounter  which  they  had  met  with  at  Indian  Rock,  less  than 
five  hundred  rods  from  this  spot. 

The  traditions  of  this  encounter  vary,  liut  the  essential  facts 
are  that  a  man  2iamed  Rocket,  in  search  of  a  horse  lost  in  the 
woods,  found  instead  a  trail  of  forty-two  Indians,  which  he 
cautiously  followed  until  night,  when  he  saw  them  fairly  laid 
down  to  sleep.  He  hastened  back  to  the  settlement,  mustered 
a  dozen  resolute  men  under  Capt.  Robert  (?)  Ware,  and  before 
daylight  the  little  band  was  posted  within  eyesight  of  the 
sleeping  savages  and  ready  to  salute  them  as  soon  as  they 
awaked.  It  was  a  sharp  and  anxious  watch,  for  the  Indians 
were  more  than  two  to  one  of  the  Wrcnthamites.  Between 
daylight  and  sunrise  the  Indians  arose  almost  together,  when, 
at  a  preconcerted  signal,  each  waiting  musket  sent  its  bullet 
to  its  mark.     The  suddenness  of  the  attack  so  confused  the 


•But  the  records  of  the  General  Court  show  the  incorporation  to  have  been 
consummtited  upon  the  17th.    See  records,  Vol.  iv.,  pt.  ii.,  p.  569. 
2 


18  HISTORY    OP    FRANKLIN. 

Indians  wlio  escaped  the  first  shot  that  they  rushed  and  leajwd 
down  a  steep  precipice  of  the  rock ;  where  they,  maimed  and 
lamed  by  the  fall,  Ijecame  speedily  victims  to  the  quick  and 
steady  aim  of  the  whites.  One  or  two  only  escaped  to  tell  the 
fate  of  their  comrades.  Rocket  is  said  to  have  received  an 
annual  pension  from  the  General  Court  for  his  prompt  and 
skillful  action. 

In  1823,  the  Fourth  of  July  was  celebrated  on  Indian  Rock, 
by  an  oration  from  Dr.  John  G.  Metcalf,  a  dinner,  etc.,  when 
earnest  talk  was  had  of  some  commemorative  monument  on 
the  spot.  But  a  visit  there  a  few  days  ago  showed  me  only  the 
names  of  the  originators  of  that  celebration  dee])ly  engraven 
in  the  rock  and  distinctly  legible  after  over  fifty  years  of  frosts 
and  storms  :  "  W.  Lovering,  D.  C.  Fisher,  H.  N.  Gridley,  J.  G. 
Metcalf,  W.  B.  Wright."  These  are  flanked  here  and  there 
by  half  a  score  of  initials  of  later  dates.  But  Indian  Rock  still 
lifts  itself  its  own  monument,  solitary  as  ever,  above  the  trees, 
and  gives  the  visitor  one  of  the  finest  views,  from  the  Milton 
Hills  to  Wachusett,  which  this  town  affords.  Pity  that  the 
path  which  once  led  to  it  were  not  again  made  passable,  for 
few  jaunts  would  be  more  pleasurable  and  so  near  the  village. 

But  we  must  hasten  after  the  departed  colonists.  Many  are 
the  meetings  and  discussions  held  upon  the  question  of  return, 
pivoting  mostly  upon  the  number  willing  to  go  Ijack  with  them, 
and  especially  upon  the  company  of  their  young  minister,  Mr. 
Man,  not  yet  settled  over  tliem.  Meanwhile  they  keep  up 
their  organization  and  choose  their  officers  annually  while 
these  questions  are  settling.  The  spirit  in  which  they  dis- 
cussed the  position  of  tlicir  affairs  finds  illustration  in  their 
answer  to  the  vote  of  the  proprietors  that  they  rebuild  again. 
It  is  dated  8th  January,  1677  :  — 

We  whose  names  are  beneath  subscribed  having  formerly 
had  our  recidance  in  Wollomonopouge  but  by  thos  sad  and 
sollame  dispensations  of  God's  providences  were  Removed, 
yet  desire  a  Work  for  the  Ilonnour  of  God  and  the  Good  and 
comfort  of  ourselves  and  ours  might  be  again  Ingaged  and 
Promotted  att  that  place  :  Therefore  our  purpose  is  to  returns 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  19 

thither  God  willing —  But  knowing  our  owne  Inability  for  so 
Great  and  Wajtie  a  worke,  both  in  Respecte  of  our  Insuffi- 
ciency for  the  carrying  on  of  new  plantation  worke,  and  the 
dangers  that  may  yett  be  reanewed  upon  us  by  the  heathen 
breaking  out  on  us  ;  thinke  it  not  safe  for  us  to  returne  alone 
except  otlier  of  the  proprietors  joyno  to  Go  up  along  with  us 
or  Send  Inhabitants  to  ingage  in  that  worke  with  us. 
Subscribed  by 

Elezeaie  Metcalf,  William  Macknah,  Samuel  Man, 

Daniels  Hawes,  Elizear  Gay,  Cornelius  Fislier, 

Daniels  Wight,  John  Payne,  Joseph  Kingsbury, 

Robert  Ware,  Benjamin  Kockett,  John  Ware, 

John  Aldis,  Nath  Ware,  Michell  Willson, 

Samuel  Fisher,  James  Mossman,  Samuelle  Sheers. 

As  a  result  of  this  vote  we  find  them  returned  to  Wrent- 
ham  and  so  far  re-established  as  to  hold  a  general  meeting 
in  their  rebuilt  meeting-house  in  1685,  at  which  date  a  lot  of 
from  twenty  to  twenty-five  acres  is  granted  for  a  school,  and 
leave  is  given  to  several  persons  to  put  in  a  gallery  into  the 
meeting-house. 

We  infer  that  the  children  have  grown  somewhat  large 
and  saucy,  too,  from  living  in  Dedham,  for  tivo  men  had  al- 
ready, in  1684, been  chosen  to  keep  the  boys  from  playing  on 
the  Sabbath  "  in  time  of  exercise."  They  send  also  a  peti- 
tion to  the  General  Court  for  permission  to  choose  their  own 
selectmen,  like  other  towns,  and  to  manage  their  own  affairs 
without  consulting  the  court's  committee  —  the  latter,  they 
say,  being  now  difficult  to  get  at,  and  besides,  in  their  plain 
language,  craz}' and  infirm  in  body.  This  petition  is  granted, 
and  also  a  committee  is  ordered  to  lay  a  road  between  Wrent- 
ham  and  Medfield.  This  road  is  that  now  crossing  Charles 
river  at  Rockville  in  East  Medway,  and  along  which  road  the 
Medfield  people  spread  themselves  into  Franklin  and  became 
the  earliest  settlers  of  its  territory. 

But  there  is  not  time  now  to  tell  the  several  steps  by  which 
the  little  child  in  this  wilderness  of  Wollomonopoag  gradu- 
ally learned  to  walk.  How  John  Woodcock  had  a  bit  of  land 
:givcn  him  close  to  the  yet  unplastered  and  unshingled  meet- 
ing-house  to   put  up  a  small  refreshment-house  for  Sabbath 


20  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

day;  how  two  watchmen,  according  to  the  colonial  law, 
"walk  every  night  each  half  a  mile  east  and  west  from  the 
meeting-house  to  challenge  stragglers  and  bring  them  before 
the  magistrate  next  morning  for  explanation  ;  of  the  watch- 
house  to  be  built  in  1695,  or  of  the  school-house,  "  so  big  as- 
y'  y"  may  be  a  room  of  sixteen  feet  square  beside  convenient 
room  for  a  chimney,  where  the  selectmen  will  keep  school  in 
turn  per  week,  to  teach  children  and  youth  to  read  English 
and  wright  and  cypher  gratis,  and  begin,  God  willing,  next 
Monday ;  "  how  town  meetings  are  called  to  be  held  at  6 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  that,  too,  in  March;  and  how 
Dorchester  people,  i.  e.  Foxboro,  are  by  vote  allowed  to  at- 
tend meeting,  if  they  will  "  pay  like  the  rest." 

But  the  ministerial  history  claims  a  paragraph,  for  the 
Christian  life  of  our  ancestry  was  an  element  in  it  for  more 
than  fifty  years. 

Although  Wollomonopoag  was  incorporated  17th  October, 
1673,  as  the  town  of  Wrentham,  so  named  from  the  old  town 
in  England  whence  some  of  the  families  came,  and  although 
Samuel  Man  had  been  called  the  year  before,  yet  for  the 
troublous  times  and  divers  hindrances,  a  church  had  not  been, 
gathered  nor  Mr.  Man  settled  until  April  13, 1692,  when  ten 
members,  including  the  minister,  were  covenanted  together.* 

Mr.  Man  was  son  of  William  and  Mary  (larsard)  Man, 
of  Cambridge,  born  6th  July,  1647 ;  H.  U.  166.5,  married 
Esther  Ware,  of  Dedham,  May  17, 1693,  by  whom  he  had 
seven  sons  and  four  daughters,  and  died  May  22, 1719,  in  the 
forty-ninth  year  of  his  ministry. 

Within  seven  months  Rev.  Henry  Messenger  was  settled, 
Dec.  5,  1719.  Two  years  after,  in  1721,  a  new  and  larger 
house  replaced  the  first  sanctuary,  to  which  the  fathers  of 
this  town  resorted  mitil  their  separation  in  1737  into  a  dis- 
tinct precinct  for  religious  purposes." 


*  They  were  Samuel  Man  (mister  elect),  John  Ware,  John  Guild,  Benjamin 
Bockwood,  Thomas  Thurston,  Jolm  Fairbank,  John  Fales,  Eleazer  Metcalf, 
Ephraim  Pond,  Samuel  Fisher  (first  deacon). 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  21 

Mr.  Messenger  was  born  in  Boston,  28th  Febrnary,  1695, 
graduated  at  Harvard  College  1719,  and  married  5tli  Janu- 
ary, 1720,  Esther,  daughter  of  Israel  and  Bridget  Cheever, 
of  Cambridge.  He  had  seven  sons  and  five  daughters,  four 
of  whom  became  tlie  wives  of  ministers.  He  was  the  second 
son  of  Thomas  and  Elizabeth  Messenger,  and  grandson  of 
Henry  and  Sarali  Messenger  from  England,  in  1640.  He 
died  30th  March,  1750,  in  tlie  thirty-second  year  of  his  min- 
istry. 

The  town  meanwhile  has  increased  so  steadily  that  in  1718 
it  is  divided  into  four  districts,  and  a  school  is  kept  three 
months  in  each,  under  a  committee  of  three  for  each  part  — 
north,  east,  south  and  west,  and  in  ten  years  thereafter  the 
old  school-house  with  its  chimney  is  voted  to  be  sold  at  auc- 
tion. 

In  1719  thirteen  Wrentham  families  are  set  off  by  the 
General  Court  to  Bellingham,  which  begets  a  protest  and 
lawsuit  over  the  town  line.  It  begets,  also,  another  move- 
ment of  greater  interest  to  us.  For  the  overflow  from 
Boggestow,  or  Medfield,  across  the  Charles  river  has  beeu 
moving  on  until  nineteen  families  —  "  who  live  remote  from 
the  Public  Worship  and  cannot  attend  on  the  same  without 
difficulties  and  hardships,"  petitioji  that  a  separate  account 
may  be  kept  of  what  every  person  pays  towards  the  new 
meeting-house  in  Wrentham  proper,  so  that  it  may  be  repaid 
to  them  whenever  they  shall  be  set  off  into  a  precinct  or 
parish,  for  building  a  meeting-house  for  themselves.  With 
this  petition  granted,  March  13,  1720,  0.  S.,  as  an  anchor  to 
the  windward,  shrewdly  dropped  when  a  new  minister  and 
untested  is  being  settled,  the  western  side  of  the  town  quietlj 
wait  and  watch  for  five  years  longer.  But,  that  this  anchor 
may  not  drag  for  want  of  holding  ground,  they  secure  a  grant 
of  sixty  acres  to  be  laid  out  of  the  common  lands  in  two  par- 
cels, "  in  the  most  convenient  place  for  these  people."  Some 
of  the  less  patient  spirits — John  Pond  and  twelve  others  — 
getting  uneasy,  petition  in  1725  to  be  set  off  to  Medway. 
Wrentham  shakes  its  head.  Whereupon  Capt.  Robert  Pond 
and  twenty  others  ask  that  a  new  precinct  ne.xt  to  Belling- 


22  HISTORY    OF   FRANKLIN. 

ham  and  Charles  river,  six  and  a  half  miles  by  four  and  a 
half,  may  be  erected.  This,  too,  is  refused  ;  but  there  is  evi- 
dently some  propriety  in  the  request,  for  the  town,  at  its  next 
meeting,  Sept.  21,  172.5,  choose  a  "  committee  to  give  in  rea- 
sons why  the  petition  of  the  west  part  to  be  set  off  should  not 
be  granted."  In  1728,  John  Pond,  Jr.,  and  thirteen  others 
reurge  his  father's  request  to  go  to  Medway.  It  will  not  be 
allowed  yet,  and  there  is  quiet  waiting  again  for  six  years 
more.  In  1734,  the  westerly  side  moves  in  another  direction. 
It  asks,  modestly,  if  a  town's  committee  may  not  come  and 
"  state  the  place  for  the  building  of  the  meeting-house  where 
the  petitioners  have  agreed  for  the  building  of  said  meeting- 
house, being  about  seventy-three  rods  southwest  from  the 
house  of  Michal  Willson  ?  "  Nay  !  Then  they  ask.  Will  the 
town  build  a  meeting-house  there,  and  finish  it  at  the  town's 
cost?  Nay!  much  louder.  Well,  then,  will  the  town  pro- 
Tide  the  west  side  with  preaching  four  months  in  the  winter 
season  this  present  year  ?  Thinking  of  the  long  rides  "  of 
seven,  eight,  and  nine  miles,"  from  River  End  and  the  City 
Mills  in  the  New  England  snows  for  their  western  brethren, 
the  town  does  give  a  reluctant  yes,  and  "  the  selectmen  agree 
with  Mr.  Jacob  Bacon  to  preach  four  months  in  the  westerly 
part  of  tlie  town,  to  begin  the  second  Sabliath  in  December, 
and  also  to  keep  school  three  months  from  the  1st  of  January 
for  ^42"—  .£34  for  the  preaching,  and  <£8  for  the  school.* 
A  similar  arrangement  for  the  next  winter's  preaching  of 
1735-6  is  made  with  Mr.  Hezekiah  Man.f 


*  Mr.  Bacon  was  the  son  of  Thomas,  grandson  of  John,  and  great-grandson 
of  Michal  of  Dedham,  1(340,  who  came  from  Ireland  with  a  wife  and  four  chil- 
dren, and  died  1G48.  Jacob  was  born  in  Wrentham  9th  September,  ITOfi,  gradu- 
ated at  Cambridge,  1731,  and  settled  first  minister  in  Keene,  N.  H.,  ISth  Octo- 
ber, 1738;  dismissed  in  April,  1747,  when  the  settlement  was  broken  up  by  the 
Indians,  and  again  settled  over  the  third  church,  Plymouth,  Mass.,  in  1749,  and 
dismissed  in  1776.  He  preached  a  year  and  a  half  in  Carver,  and  then  removed 
to  Rowley,  where  he  died,  June,  1787,  in  his  eighty-first  year. 

t  Mr.  Man  was  born  27th  October,  1707,  son  of  William,  grandson  of  Rev. 
Samuel  Man,  the  first  minister  of  Wrentham.  He  graduated  at  Cambridge, 
1731,  in  the  same  class  with  Mr.  Bacon,  and  died  before  ordination,  in  1739. 


HISTORICAL   ADDRESS.  23 

Still  this  compromise  of  a  third  part  of  a  minister  does  not 
satisfy  the  west  side.  Perhaps  a  politic  move  may  quiet  it 
and,  11th  March,  1735,  the  town  vigorously  sets  off  to  Med- 
way  the  still  persistent  John  Pond,  Jr.,  and  his  uneasy  neigh- 
bors, Thomas  Bacon,  Jr.,  Samuel  Pond,  Richard  Puffer, 
Joseph  Ellis,  Peter  Adams,  Samuel  Fisher,  and  James  Ellis,  Jr. 

But  the  remnant,  resolute  as  ever,  next  year,  in  May,  1736, 
renew  their  petition  for  a  separation ;  to  be  again  refused. 
The  town,  in  August,  declined  even  to  give  reasons  to  the 
General  Court  for  their  negative.  Nor  will  they,  in  September, 
remit  the  west  side  from  their  ministerial  taxes.  But  in 
December  they  are  willing  to  argue  the  question  by  a  com- 
mittee befoi-e  the  General  Court,  to  which  the  west  side  have 
already  applied  in  June,  1736,  for  a  parish,  or  precinct  charter, 
through  Capt.  Robert  Pond,  Eleazer  Metcalf,  and  forty-six 
others.  Such  a  growing  list  of  names  brings  matters  to  a  crisis. 
The  General  Court  sends  out  a  committee  to  view  the  premises, 
who  approve  of  the  separation  in  general,  but  refer  the  way 
and  manner  thereof  to  the  agreement  of  the  two  sections  in- 
terested. The  town  is  to  answer  the  petition  at  the  next 
court  session,  and,  therefore,  a  general  meeting  is  called  for 
Aug.  29,  1737,  at  which,  after  sundry  complimentary  where- 
ases, a  consent  is  voted  ;  with  the  condition,  however,  that 
they  move  tlie  dividing  line  "  half  a  mile  and  forty  rods  "  (so 
exact  were  they)  further  westwards.  In  due  course  of  legis- 
lative action,  the  end  is  reached  by  the  signature  of  Governor 
Belcher,  Dec.  23, 1737,  and  the  second  precinct  of  Wrentham 
assmnes  legal  existence. 

Like  a  cutting  from  the  parent  bulb,  this  dependency  grows, 
in  forty  years,  into  the  town  of  Franklin. 

The  process  by  which  the  town  thus  severed  its  northern 
half  into  a  precinct  may  not  be  uninteresting.  The  record 
says :  — 

Whereas,  Capt.  Robert  Pond,  Eleazer  Metcalf  and  forty- 
six  others  inhabitants  of  the  western  part  of  Wrentham  pre- 
ferred a  petition  to  the  great  and  General  Court  in  June  A.  D. 
1736  setting  forth  that  they   have   preferred  a  petition   (as 


24  HISTORY   OF   FRANKLIN. 

above)  praying  that  they  may  either  be  set  off  a  separate 
township  by  tlie  bounds  following  (the  present  town  bounda- 
ries nearly);  and  whereas  the  Honorable  Committee  appointed 
by  the  General  Court  in  last  December,  were  ordered  to  re- 
pair to  the  westerly  part  of  Wrentham  and  view  the  situation 
of  the  same  and  consider  the  circumstances  of  the  petitioners 
and  hear  the  parties  concerned,  did  not  report  in  favor  of  the 
prayer  of  the  petitioners  but  were  of  oppinion  that  they  should 
be  relieved  from  under  their  hardships  and  difficulties  they 
complain  of  in  another  way  and  manner  than  they  prayed  for 
in  their  petition  Unless  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Wrent- 
ham should  agree  upon  a  method  among  themselves  for  the 
relief  of  their  Westerly  inhabitants  and  report  the  same  to 
the  General  Court  at  such  time  as  said  Court  should  appoint 
therefor  ;  and  whereas,  the  inhabitants  of  this  town  are  this 
day  assembled  in  a  public  town  meeting  appointed  by  the 
selectmen  agreeable  to  the  order  of  the  General  Court  to  know 
the  mind  of  the  town  by  a  vote,  what  method  they  will  agree 
upon  to  accommodate  the  Westerly  inhal)itants  who  preferred 
a  petition  to  the  said  Court  in  June,  1736,  setting  forth  the 
great  difficulties,  etc.,  the  consideration  whereof  being  recom- 
mended to  this  town  by  the  said  Court ;  —  And  although  it 
doth  not  appear  to  this  town  by  any  petition  to  the  Court  or 
town  from  the  said  ])etitioners  that  they  desire  any  relief  from 
their  difficulties  and  hardships  in  any  other  way  or  manner 
than  their  being  set  off  a  separate  township,  which  the  town 
has  denied  them  and  given  in  their  reasons  to  the  General 
Court,  yet  notwithstanding  the  inhabitants  being  desirous  it 
may  appear  that  they  are  willing  to  come  into  some  method 
agreeable  to  reason  and  justice,  and  as  far  as  they  are  able 
under  their  present  poor  circumstances  to  accommodate  the 
said  petitioners  and  relieve  them  under  the  hardships  and  dif- 
ficulties they  complain  of  in  their  petition,  although  no  proper 
steps  be  taken  by  the  said  petitioners  on  application  made  to 
the  town  therefor  ;  and  whereas  the  Court  ordered  the  Com- 
mittee's re])ort  to  the  first  Tuesday  of  next  fall  sessions  that 
so  the  town  of  Wrentham  may  have  opportunity  to  accommo- 
date the  matter  among  themselves  :  — 

Wherefore  voted  that  it  is  the  mind  of  the  town  that  all 
the  said  petitioners  with  their  estates,  that  ai'e  of  that  mind 
and  all  such  other  inhabitants  of  this  town  with  their  estates 
as  shall  join  with  them  living  and  lying  within  the  bounds  and 
limits  following,  viz. :  four  miles  upon  the  Charles  river  from 
the  North  end  of  the  line  between  Wrentham  and  Bellingham, 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS. 


25 


and  at  tlie  eml  of  the  said  four  miles  to  run  a  straight  line  to 
the  middle  of  the  lengtli  of  the  line  between  Wrentham  and 
Attlcboro  for  their  East  bounds,  and  half  the  length  of  the 
line  between  Wrentham  and  Attleboro  to  be  their  South  liounds ; 
the  line  between  Wrentham  and  Bellingham  to  be  their  West 
bounds  ;  and  Charles  river  to  be  their  North  bounds  ;  be  a 
separate  Parish  by  themselves,  and  that  they  have  leave  to  call 
and  settle  a  minister  among  themselves  and  be  discharged 
from  paying  any  ministerial  charges  to  the  support  of  the 
ministry  in  the  other  part  of  the  town  so  long  as  they  main- 
tain preaching  among  themselves. 

Secondly,  Or  that  all  the  petitioners  within  the  bounds 
petitioned  for  by  the  said  petitioners  be  a  separate  parish,  etc., 
provided  their  Easterly  bounds  mentioned  in  their  petition  be 
set  half  a  mile  and  40  rods  further  westward  nearer  the  line 
between  Wrentham  and  Bellingham. 


The  petitioners  thus  set  off  were  — 


John  Adams, 
David  Pond, 
John  Failes, 
Saml.  Morse, 
Daniel  Thurston, 
Michael  Wilson, 
Ezra  Pond, 
Saml.  Metcalf, 
Ebenr.  Sheckel worth, 
Ebenr.  Partridge, 
Thomas  Man,  Sen., 
John  Smith, 
Robert  Pond, 
Eleazer  Metcalf, 
Josiali  Haws, 
Joseph  Whitng, 
Total,  48. 


Eleazer  Fisher, 
Simon  Slocum, 
James  New, 
Uriah  Wilson, 
Edward  Hall, 
Nathl.  Fisher, 
Saml.  Partridge, 
Daniel  Maccane, 
Baruoh  Pond, 
Nathl.  Fairbanks, 
Jonathan  Wright, 
Benjamin  Rockwood, 
John  Richardson, 
Job  Partridge, 
Thomas  Rockwood, 
Robert  Blake, 


John  Fisher, 
David  Lawrence,  Jr., 
Eleazer  Ware, 
Eleazer  Metcalf,  Jr., 
Ebenezer  Lawrence, 
Michael  Metcalf, 
Ebenezer  Hunting, 
Daniel  Haws, 
Edward  Gay, 
Ichabod  Pond, 
Nathl.  Haws, 
David  Jones, 
Leneard  Fisher, 
Ebenr.  Clark, 
David  Lawrence,  Jr., 
David  Darling. 


The  first  warrant  to  organize  the  new  precinct  is  issued  by 
Jonathan  Ware,  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  is  addressed  to 
Robert  Pond,  Daniel  Haws,  David  Jones,  Daniel  Thurston, 
and  John  Adams,  five  of  the  freeholders.  They  are  called 
to  meet  "  at  the  house  the  inhabitants  usually  meet  in  for 
public  worship "  on  the  16th  of  January,  1737-8,  at  12 
o'clock.  When  they  came  together  they  found  everything  to 
be  done  anew.  No  church,  no  minister,  no  meeting-house  ! 
They  chose  the  necessary  officers  and  adjourned  four  days  for 
meditation.  At  the  next  meeting  they  go  resolutely  at  their 
work.     Tliey  vote   £80  for  preaching,  and  a  committee  to 


26  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

secure  it;  another  coininittee  to  provide  materials  for  a 
meeting-house  in  place  of  the  small  building  heretofore  pro- 
vided and  used,  to  be  forty  feet  long,  thirty-one  feet  wide  and 
twenty  feet  posts,  towards  which  each  may  contribute  his 
proportion ;  and  especially  sent  a  request  to  Wrentham  for 
that  money  previously  paid  towards  its  meeting-house,  and 
which  they  had  sagaciously,  by  a  vote  ten  years  before,  se- 
cured to  be  repaid  to  them  whenever  they  should  need  it  for 
a  like  use.  It  amounted  to  ,£130  lis.  The  request  was  at 
first  refused,  but  four  months  after  granted. 

Meanwhile  the  steps  for  a  church  existence  are  going  on. 
Some  twenty  brethren  having  secured  letters  from  the  mother 
church,  the  16th  of  February,  1738,  is  kept  "  as  a  day  of 
solemn  fasting  and  prayer  —  to  implore  llie  blessing  of  God 
and  His  direction  in  the  settling  of  a  church  and  in  order  to 
the  calling  and  settling  of  a  gospel  minister  in  said  place." 
And  there,  in  a  large  assembly  the  covenant  is  read  and  ac- 
cepted, and  Rev.  Mr.  Baxter  of  Medfield,  moderator,  pro- 
nounces them  a  duly  organized  church  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ."  *  Two  otlier  ministers  are  present,  doubtless  Mr. 
Messenger  of  Wrentham  ;  and  Mr.  Bucknam  of  Medway,  as 
being  both  fraternally  interested  in  the  new  church.  These 
three  ministers  being  questioned  then  and  there  by  a  com- 
mittee of  the  church,  cordially  commend  Mr.  Elias  Haven, 
who  has  for  a  considerable  time  preached  in  the  precinct, 
"  as  in  some  good  measure  qualified  for  the  gospel  ministi'y." 
The  parisli  proceed  immediately  (March  23d)  to  choose  Mr. 
Haven  as  tlieir  minister;  whicii  they  do  unanimously,  "  sixty- 
one  yeas  and  not  one  scattering  vote,"  with  a  salary  of  sis 
score  pounds  annually  by  the  1st  of  March,  old  tenor,  and 
"  to  rise  and  fall  as  the  credit  of  money  rises  and  falls  from 
what  it  is  this  day,"  also  with  a  glebe  of  sixty  acres  and 
£60  with  it,  or,  if  he  prefer,  £200  instead,  for  a  settlement. 
The  church  at  the  same  time  agrees  and  formally  extends  a 
call  on  the  25th  of  August  following. 

•  For  a  copy  of  this  covenant,   see  the  Manual  of  the   First  Congregational 
Church  of  Franklin. 


HISTORICAL   ADDRESS.  27 

On  Nov.  8,  1738,  a  council  gathers  for  the  installation. 
The  churches  invited  are  in  Hopkinton,"Wrentham,  Medfield, 
Leicester,  U.xbridge,  and  the  old  and  new  north  churches  in 
Boston.  The  audience  assembles  near  the  public  meeting- 
house —  not  yet  finished  —  and  before  the  sun  sets  Rev. 
Elias  Haven  has  become  the  first  pastor  of  this  new  church. 

After  nearly  sixteen  years  of  labor,  often  interrupted  for 
months  by  sickness,  he  finally  closed  his  painful  and  long 
wrestle  with  consumption  Aug.  10,  1754,  at  forty  years  of 
age,  and  now  rests  in  the  old  cemetery,  where  a  still  remem- 
bering town,  by  vote  Nov.  2, 1795,  forty  years  after  his  death, 
ordered  gravestones  to  be  set  up,  "  the  bigness  of  the  stones 
with  the  inscription  thereon  to  be  left  discretionary  with  a 
special  committee."  *  The  stones  still  stand,  large  and  thick 
slate,  and  may  be  legible  for  another  century.  This  long 
interval  of  forty  years  since  Mr.  Haven's  death  does  not  im- 
ply that  his  grave  had  been  all  the  while  left  without  a  monu- 
ment. But  the  burial-lot  had  received  several  fits  of  atten- 
tion, clearings,  fencings,  etc.,  and  a  late  revision  of  it  may 
have  suggested  that  their  first  pastor  had  not  been  honored 
■with  sufficient  distinction. 

Next  to  the  pastor  in  a  town  is  the  meeting-house  where 
his  motive  power  is  applied  to  the  community.  We  must  not, 
in  our  hasty  ramble  through  the  century,  pass  by  the  first 
meeting-house  of  Franklin.  The  building  of  its  meeting- 
house is  always  a  great  event  in  a  town,  and  an  occasion  of 
original  projects,  of  vigorous  debates  and  shrewd  financier- 
ing. The  first  topic  of  discussion  is  a  site.  In  1734,  the 
precinct  had  so  far  proceeded  as  to  ask  Wrenthara  to  come 
over  and  look  at  the  place  they  have  pitched  upon  among 
themselves  for  a  meeting-house  "  about  seventy-three  rods 
southwest  from  the  house  of  Michael  Willson."  He  lived 
where  the  old  house  once  occupied  by  William  Phipps  stands. 
They  had  a  committee  in  1737  to  secure  materials,  and  Mr. 
Thomas  Man  liad  offered  to  give  an  acre  of  land  to  set  the 
house  on.     They  are  now  getting  in  a  hurry, for  the  preacher 

•See  Ecclesiastical  History,  Addenda. 


28  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

has  been  selected,  and  how  can  he  preach  without  an  audience- 
room  ! 

It  is  the  7th  of  April,  1738.  Five  men  are  sent  into  a  cor- 
ner "  to  Debate  and  Consider  and  Perfix  upon  a  place  for 
Bouilding  a  Meeting  House  on  and  Bring  it  to  the  Precinct 
in  one  hour."  Meanwhile,  the  rest  spend  that  liour  in  vot- 
ing and  unvoting,  until  they  reach  an  apparent  finality,  to  set 
the  house  "  at  the  most  convenientest  place  on  that  acre  of 
Land  That  was  laid  out  By  Thomas  Man  for  the  use  of  the 
West  Inhabitants  in  said  Precinct."  But  who  shall  decide 
where  this  "  most  convenientest  place  "  is  ?  Mr.  Plimpton, 
"  survair  "  of  Medfield,  is  selected  to  bring  his  implements  to 
bear  on  the  solution  ;  who  reports  for  the  west  corner  of  Man's 
lot,  "  as  near  as  they  conveniently  can."  But  next  year. 
May  9,  1739,  a  new  question  arises,  whether  this  be  in  the 
exact  center  of  the  precinct,  and  a  new  surveyor  is  called  to 
this  problem.  He  and  his  two  chainmen  are  put  under  oath 
to  honestly  survey  the  ground  where  the  meeting-house  must 
shortly  lie. 

May  23  he  reports  in  writing  as  follows  :  — 

To  the  Inhabitants  of  Wrentham  Westerly  Precinct, 
Gent' :  These  may  Inform  you  that  I  the  Subscriber  Have 
Been  and  Measured  to  find  tlie  (Jenter  of  s''  Precinct,  Mess'. 
Decon  Barber  and  Benj.  Rockwood  being  chainmen,  and  ac- 
cording to  what  we  find  by  Measuring  on  the  Ground  from 
the  Northerly  End  to  the  Southerly  End,  and  from  the  West- 
erly Side  to  the  Easterly  Side  of  the  Same  I  find  the  Center 
of  s  Measuring  to  be  South  westerly  from  the  Present  Meet- 
ing house  a  little  Beter  then  an  Hundred  Rods,  where  we 
Pitched  a  Stake  and  Made  an  heap  of  Stones. 

Eleazer  Fisher,  Surveyor. 

He  was  of  Dedham,  the  chainmen  were  of  Medway. 

This  centi'al  pivot  of  the  whole  parish  having  been  scien- 
tifically determined,  which  is  said  to  have  been  in  the  middle 
of  Darius  Morse's  mud-pond,  at  a  cost  of  .£11  2s.,  they  order 
the  committee  to  "  hire  workmen  instantly,  and  raise,  cover, 
inclose,  and  glaze  tlic  meeting-liouse,  lay  the  lower  floor  and 
cover  with  boards  and  shingles,"  and  vote  £200  towards  the 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  29 

cost.  This  summer  of  1739  sees  the  barn-like  building  arise, 
and  in  September  another  committee  are  putting  in  the  seats 
according  to  the  timber  provided,  and  "  one  lock  and  key, 
and  bolts  and  latches  for  the  doors  and  cants  "  for  the  gallery 
stairs,  and  also  foundation  for  the  pulpit  and  the  pulpit  stairs, 
and  rails  round  the  galleries  and  make  five  "pillows," — a 
small  number  for  a  modern  audience.  The  bills,  presented  3d 
March,  1740,  show  that  the  committees  had  been  reasonably 
expeditious.  Tiie  final  cost  was  ^338  13s.  6d.,  as  reported 
in  October,  1741.  The  boys,  too,  were  promptly  at  work,  for 
in  July,  1740,  Captain  Fairbanks  is  directed  to  get  the  win- 
dows mended  and  to  prosecute  the  depredators. 

Pari  passu  with  the  meeting-house  arose  the  horse  houses, 
whose  long  strings  of  successors  afterwards  made  the  Frank- 
lin Common  so  famous.  Tliey  were  all  planted  and  grew  on 
Thomas  Man's  acre.  Among  them  were  Ricliard  Puffer's 
"  small  diner  house,"  and  Isaac  Heton  and  Dr.  Jones  had  a 
"  small  noon  house." 

With  the  sanctuary  finished  —  witii  a  pew  on  each  side  of 
the  j)ulpit,  a  deacon's  seat  in  front  and  long  benches  filling 
the  rest  of  the  house — ne.xt  comes  the  ticklish  question  of 
seating  the  audience.  Gravely  a  special  committee  count 
the  years  and  measure  the  tax-bills  of  the  fathers,  and  so  as- 
sign their  places  "  according  to  age  and  estate,"  as  they 
were  instructed.  Some  wish  to  build  pews  at  their  own  ex- 
pense, but  the  precinct  resolutely  refuses  assent.  The  place 
and  not  the  kind  of  scat  is  sufficient  graduation  ;  for  the 
straight  bench  is  the  throne  of  democracy. 

Of  this  oldest  real  meeting-house  no  sketch,  or  picture,  or 
ideal  survives,  save  that  I  remember  to  have  seen  some  of  its 
ivindoics  in  an  old  house.  Tlie  sashes  were  two  feet  square, 
with  five-inch  panes  of  glass  set  diagonally  in  lead,  as  the  fash- 
ion then  was.  The  meeting-house  stood  on  tlie  slight  hill 
nortli  of  the  present  Catholic  church,  in  a  surrounding  girth 
of  pitch  pines.  It  was  guarded  by  platoons  of  horse-siieds 
and  small  dinner-houses,  where  the  forefathers  of  tlie  hamlet 


30  HISTORY   OF   FRANKLIN. 

shared  their  lunch  and  the  mothers  nursed  their  infants  in 
the  hour's  intermission  of  the'Sabbath  noons. 

This  house  was  subjected  to  occasional  modifications  as 
the  congregation  increased  and  the  taste  changed.  The  ob- 
jection to  pews  yielded  gradually.  In  1755,  Capt.  John 
Goldsbury  is  allowed  "  to  build  a  small  pew  joining  to  the 
pew  left  of  the  pulpit,  at  his  own  charge,"  and  it  is  liked  so 
well  tliat  in  March  following  they  vote  to  alter  the  meeting- 
house generally,  building  seats  along  the  front  of  the  galle- 
ries, convenient  for  men  to  sit  on,  and  also  hind  seats  in  the 
galleries.  The  seats  under  the  galleries  are  converted  into 
pew-lots,  and  "  such  men  as  it  may  fall  to  by  lot  in  order  of 
age  and  estate  may  build  there  if  they  will,  provided  if  they 
leave  town  tlie  pew  shall  revert  to  the  precinct."  The  meet- 
ing-house, however,  is  gradually  aging  in  spite  of  repairs  and 
frequent  mendings  of  broken  windows.  But  Micliael  Willson, 
the  first  sexton,  keeps  it  as  tidily  as  he  can  until  Uriah  Will- 
son  (his  son)  takes  the  broom,  with  occasional  respite  from 
Joshua  Daniels,  Jonathan  Archer,  and  Elisha  Partridge,  un- 
til the  ancient  sanctuary  is  left  to  sleep  undisturbed  in  its 
dust  on  its  little  hill.  For  the  precinct,  getting  ready  now 
to  emerge  into  a  township,  begins  to  plan  about  tlie  freedom- 
suit  of  a  new  meeting-house  to  wear  on  assuming  its  coming 
dignity  of  a  town. 

But  before  we  quite  leave  the  old  sanctuary,  we  must  step 
within  long  enough  to  listen  to  what  was  called  the  old  way 
of  singing.  We  take  up  one  of  the  few  books  —  an  "  Old 
Bay  Psalm  book,"  which  has  been  used  since  1640  in  all  the 
churches  in  the  colon}'.  Tlie  eight  tunes  at  the  end  are  from 
Ravenscroft's  collection  of  1618.  The  chorister  starts  the 
tune  with  his  pitch  pipe.  The  congregation  follow,  each  in 
his  own  fashion  and  at  his  own  pace,  according  to  the  old 
style  in  which  his  grandmother  sang  the  tune  in  Wrentham 
or  Dedham  half  a  century  ago.  All  sing  the  same  part  with 
an  energy  begotten  of  facing  noi-theasters  and  felling  forest 
trees  and  driving  strings  of  o.xen  among  their  stumps.  No 
two  persons  sing  alike,  and  the  singing  consequently  sounds, 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  31 

as  Rev.  Thomas  Walter  said,  "  like  five  hundred  different 
tunes  roared  out  at  the  same  time."*  In  one  sense  it  is  like 
the  voice  of  many  waters,  and  this  is  called  the  old  way  of 
singing. 

It  had  already  become  a  grievance  to  the  ministers  who 
wished  to  make  melody  in  their  hearts  unto  the  Lord,  and 
strenuous  efforts  had  been  begun  to  bring  the  people  back  to 
some  harmony  of  voice,  as  well  as  of  sentiment.  Hence  we 
appreciate  this  emphatic  vote  of  the  precinct  June  26,  1738, 
immediately  after  the  gathering  of  the  young  church,  viz. :  — 
"  To  sing  no  other  tunes  than  are  Pricked  Down  in  our  for- 
mer Psalm  Books  which  were  Printed  between  Thirty  and 
forty  years  A.goe,  and  To  Sing  Them  as  They  are  Prickt 
down  in  them  as  Near  as  they  can."  This  was  a  Precinct 
blow  at  the  old  way  of  singing.  The  older  people  remon- 
strated; but  the  Precinct  refused,  in  September,  "to  ease 
those  that  were  inclined  to  sing  the  old  way."  The  church, 
March  8,  1788-9,  voted  not  to  sing  in  the  old  way,  but  by 
rule,  i.  e.,  according  to  note  ;  and  they  chose  Joseph  Whiting 
to  set  the  tune  in  the  church.  This  action  of  the  church,  so 
curiously  put  in  the  negative  form,  has  a  key  to  its  signifi- 
cance in  a  solemn  query  raised,  the  record  says,  "toward  the 
close"  of  the  meeting.  As  it  proved  the  seed  of  a  large  and 
slow  harvest  it  claims  mention.  The  query  is,  "to  see  what 
notice  the  church  will  take  of  one  of  the  brethren's  striking 
into  a  pitch  of  the  tune  unusually  raised  February  18th." 
After  considerable  consultation,  the  record  says,  and  there 
well  might  be,  for  it  was  like  the  spot  of  Paul's  shipwreck, 
the  place  where  two  seas  met,  it  was  voted  :  — 

Whereas,  our  brother  David  Pond,  as  several  of  our 
brethren,  viz.:  David  Jones,  Ebenezer  Hunting,  Benjamin 
Rockwood,  Jr.,  Aaron  Haws,  and  Micliael  Metcalf  apprehend, 
struck  into  a  pitch  of  tlie  tune  on  February  18th,  in  the  pub- 
lic worsliip  in  the  forenoon,  raised  above  what  was  set ;  after 
most  of  the  congregation,  as  is  thought,  kept  the  pitch  for 
three  lines,  and  after  our  pastor  had  desired  them  that  had 

•Hood's  History  of  Music  in  N.  E.,  p.  84. 


32  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

raised  it  to  fall  to  the  pitch  that  was  set  to  be  suitable, 
decent,  or  to  that  purpose ;  the  question  was  put,  whether 
the  church  apprehends  this  our  brother  David  Pond's  so  do- 
ing to  bo  disorderly  ;  and  it  passed  in  the  affirmative,  and 
David  Pond  is  suspended  until  satisfaction  is  given. 

But  David  Pond  was  frozen  over  by  this  cooling  of  his 
high  musical  ardor,  nor  would  he  be  thawed  into  any  melting 
confession.  Though  the  church  sent  the  tender  of  a  refer- 
ence, he  would  not  meet  them.  They  invite  him  to  a  special 
prayer  meeting,  but  he  will  not  bend.  They  vote  a  solemn 
admonition.  Pie  proposes  a  council ;  that  declined  he  calls 
an  ex-parte  council,  which  is  not  acknowledged.  Then  he 
goes  into  the  second  church  in  Medway,  which  asks  questions 
about  his  case  and  gets  a  distinct  letter  in  reply,  which  is 
followed  by  a  second  and  more  emphatic  about  harboring 
malcontents,  and  a  third,  too,  with  replies  from  Medway  — 
all  unsatisfactory.  At  last,  in  September,  1751,  over  thir- 
teen years  after  that  high  pitching  of  the  tune,  the  warmth 
of  a  continuous  interest  melts  the  icy  barriers,  and  this  Pond 
flows  forth  in  a  confession  (12th  January,  1751-2)  and  the 
Medway  church  joins  in  sundry  acknowledgments  (14th 
February,  1752),  and  thus  the  discord  is  brought  down  to 
concert  pitch  again  and  the  hymn  flows  on. 

But  those  longings  for  singing  the  old  way  were  not  con- 
fined to  one  sturdy  pro-advocate.  The  battlefield  was  staked 
out  at  once  (May  18,  1739)  by  a  vote  of  the  church,  "  that 
the  man  that  tunes  the  Psalm  in  the  congregation  be  limited 
till  further  direction  to  some  particular  tunes,  and  the  tunes 
limited  arc  Canterbury,  London,  Windsor,  St.  David's,  Cam- 
bridge, Short  100th  and  148th  Psalm  tunes,  and  Benjamin 
Rockwood,  Jr.,  to  tune  the  Psalm."  A  movement,  30th  of 
January,  1715,  to  enlarge  this  musical  area  was  promptly  re- 
pelled. Tliey  will  have  only  a  moderate  new  way,  even 
though  when  Benjamin  Rockwood  cannot  sing  for  the  fail- 
ure of  his  voice,  and  they  choose  Jabez  Fisher  in  his  place, 
he  declines  because  the  catalogue  of  tunes  is  too  short  for 
him  to  enter  among  them.     But  this  refusal  begets  thought; 


HISTORICAL   ADDRESS.  33 

and  four  years'  practice  has  so  worn  out  the  eight  permitted 
notes  that  (April  5, 1749)  the  church  talces  off  the  limitation. 
They  also  dismiss  Joseph  Whiting  as  chorister  and  put  his 
pitch-pipe  into  the  mouth  of  Barnabas  Metcalf.  With  an  un- 
limited range  for  tunes,  the  hymn  now  goes  along  like  a  flow- 
ing brook,  and  — 

"  Chatters  over  stony  ways 
In  little  sharps  and  trebles" 

—  for  aught  I  know  until  this  day. 

Meanwhile  both  church  and  precinct  have  another  anxious 
care  on  hand.  Their  pastor's  health  has  been  failing,  and 
with  tender  helpfulness  they  have  eased  his  waning  strength 
of  pulpit  labors  by  generous  contributions,  until  his  decease 
in  11-ii.*  Now  comes  that  most  trying  experience  of  hearing 
candidates  to  select  a  successor.  For  the  modern  expedient 
of  a  make-believe,  acting  pastor  has  not  occurred  to  them, 
and  they  sit  patiently  down  to  hear  and  scrutinize  whomever 
the  precinct  may  bring  before  them.  In  succession  come 
Aaron  Putnam,  Jason  Haven,  Stephen  Plolmes,  Thomas 
Brooks,  Mr.  Norton,  Joseph  Manning  whom  tliey  ask  to  stay, 
but  he  declines ;  Messrs.  Parsons,  Goodhue,  Phillips  Payson, 
who  declines  their  call ;  Jesse  Root,  Nathan  Holt,  who  will 
not  tarry  though  invited  ;  John  Eals,  Mr.  Gregory,  and  Caleb 
Barnam.  He,  the  fourteenth,  is  besought  by  102  votes  to 
bring  their  uncertainty  to  an  end,  and  £133  settlement  and 
£10  salary  are  laid  before  him  as  a  temptation.  After  some 
months  of  deliberation  he  accepts,  and,  June  4,  1760,  the 
second  minister  of  this  precinct  is  settled  by  the  elders  and 
messengers  of  the  churches  in  Danbury,  Ct.,  the  two  in 
Medway,  in  Attleboro,  W^rentham,  Walpole,  two  in  Mendon 
and  Upton. 

The  exercises  were  :  Introductory  prayer  by  Rev.  A.  Frost, 
of  Second  Church,  Mendon  (now  Milford)  ;  sermon  by  Rev. 
Phillips  Payson,  of  Walpole  ;  installiug  prayer  by  Rev.  Nathan 
Bucknam,  of  First  Church,  Medway  ;  charge  by  Rev.  Joseph 

*  For  further  notice  of  Rev.  Mr.  Haven  see  Ecclesiastical  History. 
3 


34  BISTORT   OF    FRANKLIN. 

Dorr,  of  Meiidoii ;  right  hand  of  fellowship  by  Rev.  Joseph 
Bean,  of  Wrentham. 

The  church  had  voted  "  to  conduct  themselves  agreeable 
to  the  sentiments  and  advice  of  the  Convention  of  Ministers 
of  this  Province  in  a  paper  printed  June,  1759,  for  the 
Reformation  of  Disorders  on  the  Days  of  Ordination  of  Min- 
isters." 

Mr.  Barnam's  pastorate  lasted  less  than  eight  years.  He 
was  dismissed  March  6,  1768,  and  was  resettled  in  Taunton, 
whence  he  went  as  chaplain  into  the  Continental  army  and 
died  of  the  camp  disease  at  Pittsfield,  Aug.  23,  1776.  But 
his  brief  pastorate  in  Franklin  was  full  of  incidents,  debates 
and  differences  —  not  the  least  among  them  being  the  war  of 
the  hymn  books. 

This  may  have  arisen  witii  the  subsidence  of  the  pastoral 
problem.  But  come  it  did  even  before  the  ordination,  in  the 
guise  of  two  church  votes  April  15,  1760,  first  to  sing  Dr. 
Watts'  version  of  the  psalms,  and  second,  "  the  pastor  may  not 
refuse  to  lead  the  church  to  vote  as  above  mentioned."  There 
is  to  be  no  Connecticut  Consociationism  in  this  church ;  and  to 
settle  it  they  vote,  "  when  any  member  wants  to  bring  up  a 
business  wliich  the  pastor  thinks  improper,  if  he  cannot  satisfy 
the  person,  he  shall  bring  it  to  the  church,  and  they  shall 
decide  whether  to  appoint  a  hearing."  Such  a  vote  indicates 
that  the  sides  are  forming  for  a  fight  over  the  now  hymn 
book.  As  nearly  as  we  can  read  the  banners  in  the  smoke  of 
the  conflict,  there  are  three  parties  in  the  field  —  Old  Bay 
psalm  book,  Tate  and  Brady's  version,  and  Dr.  Watt's  ver- 
sion. Between  them  the  conflict  wavers  with  varying  sign. 
Dec.  10, 1761,  the  church  vote  to  "  sing  Tate  and  Brady's  ver- 
sion, together  witli  the  hymns  bound  in  the  same  volume,  till 
1st  of  March  ne.xt."  (This  was  the  new  edition  of  1741). 
April  28,  this  time  is  prolonged  indefinitely.  But  on  the  2l8t 
of  June  comes  tliis  volley  from  the  parish : — 

Voted,  that  the  parish  make  use  of  that  version  of  the 
psalms  ill  their  public  worship  on  the  Lord's  day  and  at  other 


HISTORICAL   ADDRESS.  35 

times  as  occasion  shall  require  (no  surrejititious  uses),  which 
was  made  use  of  in  this  place,  before  the  Rev.  Mr.  Barnara 
liad  his  invitation  to  settle  with  this  people  ;  commonly  called 
the  old  version  of  the  psalms  composed  for  the  use  and  ben- 
efit of  the  congregations  of  New  England. 

The  clerk  is  instructed  to  wait  upon  Mr.  Barnam  with  this 
vote,  desiring  that  he  will  adhere  to  and  conform  with  it. 
Nine  dajs  after,  June  30,  the  church  replies  by  a  vote  to  give 
the  parish  the  choice  of  Watts,  Tate  and  Brady,  or  a  council. 
September  6,  the  parish  refuses  either.  Nov.  28, 1763,  about  a 
year  after  this  refusal,  the  church  sends,  as  a  flag  of  truce, 
the  acceptance  of  a  council  to  sit  on  this  edge  of  dispute,  com- 
posed of  the  Medway  first,  Wrentham  and  Mendon  second 
churches,  if  the  parish  will  pay  the  expenses  ;  which  the  par- 
ish accepts  December  26,  with  this  sharp  definition  of  the 
points  in  arbitration  —  whether  to  sing  Dr.  Watts'  version  of 
the  psalms,  or  Tate  and  Biady's  version,  together  with  the 
hymns  bound  with  them.  The  Old  Bay  psalm  book  appears  to 
have  withdrawn,  disabled,  from  the  field.  April  17,  1764, 
the  council  meets,  in  which  the  two  churches  in  Medway,  in 
Walpole,  Sutton,  Wrentham  and  Milford  are  represented  by 
six  pastors  and  ten  delegates ;  which  council  after  sharp  re- 
proofs to  each  side,  advises  them  to  sing  the  version  of  Dr. 
Watts  in  part,  together  with  our  New  England  version  in 
part.  Thus  the  hymn  books  are  relegated  to  the  arena  to  en- 
dure the  working  of  the  law  of  "the  survival  of  the  fittest." 

The  church  muses  upon  this  result  from  April  until  No- 
vember, and  then  asks  the  council  to  come  together  again  and 
explain  their  meaning.  They  re-meet  in  June,  expound,  and 
the  church  accepts  the  exposition  on  the  4th  of  July,  1765, 
by  a  vote  of  forty-eight  to  fifteen,  just  eleven  years  before 
the  Declaration  of  our  National  Independence.  Some  of  the 
parish,  still  in  the  fog,  try  to  revive  the  issue  in  their  meet- 
ing of  January  next,  but  the  parish  will  not  open  it ;  and,  so 
far  as  appears,  it  has  remained  practically  shut  unto  the  pres- 
ent day.  Dr.  Watts  having  had   the  field  for  nearly  ninety 


36  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

years,  until  the  Puritan  hymn  book,  born  in  Mendon  Asso- 
ciation, crowded  him  onto  the  shelf  of  antiques. 

We  are  now,  in  our  hasty  trip  down  the  past,  coming  into 
the  outer  edge  of  the  storm-cloud  of  tlie  Revolution.  Rest- 
lessness is  everywhere  —  in  church  and  in  state,  in  town  and 
in  country.  This  western  precinct  is  full  of  uneasiness  and 
debate,  to  which  we  cannot  stop  to  listen.  But  tlie  people 
are  not  disposed  to  neglect  home  interests,  although  the 
French  and  Indian  wars,  the  depopulation  of  Acadia  and  the 
encroachments  of  the  British  crown  appeal  so  earnestly  to 
their  attention.  They  have  not  forgotten  the  hymn  which 
tbey  learned  at  their  mother's  knee  — 

"  Wliatever  brawls  disturb  the  street 
There  should  be  peace  at  home; 
Where  sisters  dwell  and  brothers  meet 
Quarrels  should  never  come," 

and  therefore  they  set  themselves  to  composing  their  disturb- 
ances from  the  hymn  book  war,  the  complaints  against  the 
ministry  and  other  ecclesiastical  differences  which  have  been 
developed  thereby.  It  is  a  troublous  time,  but  there  are  he- 
roic men  to  control  it,  and  they  set  themselves  down  to  the 
difficult  problem. 

First  of  all,  the  empty  pulpit  must  be  filled  with  a  pastor. 
The  committee  present  one  preacher  after  another,  some  of 
whom  fail  to  meet  with  favor,  and  some  are  called,  but  — 
such  is  the  discouraging  aspect  of  things  —  decline  the  invi- 
tation. Of  those  so  called  are,  Mr.  Elijah  Fitch,  but  he  went 
to  Hopkinton  ;  Mr.  Nathan  Perkins,  but  he  chose  West  Hart- 
ford, Ct.  Disheartened  by  these  failures,  they  ponder  if  the 
meeting-house  —  now,  in  1770,  over  thirty  years  old  and  too 
small  for  tlie  large  congregation,  as  well  as  antique  in  fash- 
ion—  may  not  be  a  hindrance  to  their  success,  by  indicating 
a  spiritual  negligence.  The  result  is  that  in  1772,  February  3, 
they  detail  five  men  "  to  consult  upon  the  Conveniences  and 
III  Conveniences  of  Enlarging  and  Repairing  their  meeting- 
house, and  to  Draw  a  plan  thereof  and  report." 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  87 

The  result  is  tliat  at  the  meeting  of  the  parisli  on  March  9, 
they  vote  "  to  Build  a  new  meeting-liouse  so  Soon  as  it  may 
be  effected  with  Common  Prudence  and  the  circumstances  of 
the  people,"  and  send  out  five  men  to  search  for  that  mova- 
ble north  pole  of  the  congregation  —  "  the  Senter  of  the  pre- 
cinct." These  five  failing  to  find  it,  in  April  fifteen  men, 
more  sharp-eyed,  perhaps,  are  delegated  to  help  them. 
Twenty  such  men  as  Franklin  can  furnish  (so  quick  at  this 
time  to  detect  theological  differences  and  measure  metres) 
will  hardly  miss  the  precise  point,  though  the  search  may  take 
all  summer.  September  7,  they  report  the  most  commodious 
place  to  be  "  about  eighty  rods  southerly  from  where  the 
meeting-house  now  stands,  between  the  two  roads  leading 
from  the  meeting-house  to  Mr.  Pond's  and  the  burying- 
ground."  This  report  is  accepted,  and  a  committee  is  chosen 
to  see  on  what  terms  the  land  can  be  bought  and  convenient 
roads  obtained  to  the  new  site. 

While  this  question  of  a  new  meeting-house  is  thus  favor- 
ably progressing,  a  small  young  man  with  a  thin  voice  has 
been  bashfully  essaying  to  fill  the  ])ul]iit  in  the  old  house  on 
the  hill.  He  came  from  Yale  College  in  1767,  and  has,  since 
his  approbation  as  a  minister  in  October,  1769,  been  preach- 
ing in  New  York  State  and  in  New  Hampshire.  He  has  de- 
clined a  call  to  settle  in  Campton,  N.  H.,  and  may  be  else- 
where, because  he  feels  himself  "  a  speckled  bird  "  for  his 
positive  opinions.  But  somehow  the  committee  of  supply 
have  heard  of  him  and  ask  him  to  occupy  their  vacant  pul- 
pit. He,  too,  has  lieard  of  the  second  precinct  in  Wrentham, 
and  that  it  contains  two  very  vigorous  and  bellicose  parties. 
He  cannot  hope,  as  he  afterwards  said,  that  "  nobody  but  little 
Nat  Emmons"  can  unite  them. 

But  the  night  before  he  reaches  town,  he  dreams  that  while 
riding  along  he  sees  a  quail  start  out  from  the  bushes  on  the 
right  side,  and  anon  another  quail  venture  from  the  left  side 
of  the  way.  Thinking,  What  if  I  can  catch  both  of  them,  he 
creeps  softly  towards  them  with  his  three-cornered  liat  in  his 


38  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

hand  and  claps  it  successfully  over  botli.*  Encouraged 
by  this  omen,  for  he  always  preferred  to  see  the  new  moon 
over  his  right  shoulder,  he  comes  one  Saturday  night  to 
this  bellicose  parish,  and  on  Sunday  morning  into  its  little 
meeting-house  among  the  pines,  wondering  where  a  con- 
gregation is  to  come  from  when  hardly  a  house  is  in  sight. 
But  when  they  gather  on  foot  and  horse-back  and  by  carriage- 
loads  and  fill  it  to  overflowing,  to  listen  so  sharply  and 
shrewdly  to  his  clear-cut  and  logical  sentences,  his  two  quails 
have  changed  to  more  inspiriting  and  difficult  game.  How- 
ever, the  little  self-diffident  young  man  so  well  succeeds  that 
on  Nov.  30,  1772,  the  church  invite  him,  by  a  vote  of  thirty- 
two  out  of  thirty-four  present,  to  become  their  pastor  ;  and  the 
precinct,  fourteen  days  after,  give  a  hearty  amen  to  the  choice. 

April  21,  1773,  Nathanael  Emmons  is  settled  as  third  pas- 
tor of  this  people.  The  service  was,  like  that  of  both  his 
predecessors,  held  outside  the  meeting-house,  in  a  valley  west 
of  the  present  Catholic  church  ;  so  that  he  was  literally,  as  he 
said,  "  ordained  not  over  but  under  the  people." 

With  the  settlement  of  Dr.  Emmons,  whose  ministry  ex- 
tended down  to  the  memory  of  so  many  of  us,  and  of  whose 
character  and  influence  as  a  master  in  theology  so  much  has 
been  written,  and  so  ably,  I  may,  though  reluctantly,  omit 
from  this  address  any  farther  account  of  our  ecclesiastical 
history,  referring  you  to  the  book  to  be  published  for  its  sub- 
sequent phases.  I  have  presented  so  much  of  it  because  for 
the  first  century  of  the  country  church,  precinct,  and  town, 
were  practically  identical,  and  their  history  one. 

The  ministerial  question  being  settled  with  brightening 
prospects  of  permanency,  which  is  really  the  central  interest 
of  a  New  England  town,  we  may  take  a  hasty  glance  at  its 
civil  progress. 

The  spirit  of  self-dependence  which  secured  the  separate 
parochial  organization  in  1738,  found  itself  as  much  incom- 
moded  in  going  to  Wrentham  for  town  business  as  it  had. 


'  See  Professor  Park's  Memoir  of  Emmons.     Works.  Vol.  I. 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  39 

been  for  religious  worship.  As  early  as  1740,  a  motion  was 
made  in  this  precinct  to  petition  Wrentham  to  become  a  town 
by  themselves,  but  there  was  not  outside  sympathy  enough  to 
carry  it.  The  next  year  there  was  a  movement  to  make  a 
new  town  out  of  slices  from  Wrentham  and  Medway.  This 
also  failed.  The  next  spring,  in  1742,  it  was  proposed  to 
build  a  town  from  the  corners  of  Wrentham,  Medway,  Belling- 
ham,  and  HoUiston.  This  met  a  like  fate.  A  movement  for 
a  new  precinct  at  the  northwest,  in  1747,  was  stopped,  as  well 
as  another,  in  1748,  at  the  north  end.  These  abortive  mo- 
tions for  a  narrower  area  were  too  many  to  mention.  But 
March  4,  1754,  a  more  serious  step  was  adopted  by  the  pre- 
cinct, to  petition  both  Wrentham  and  the  General  Court  to 
be  set  off  into  a  separate  district,  and  a  committee  was  chosen 
to  engineer  the  project.  But  Wrentham  simply  refused  the 
petition,  without  condescending  to  describe  its  purport  on  its 
records.  Thus  baffled  in  every  movement  for  a  district  town- 
ship, and  full  of  other  matters  difficult  of  adjustment  and 
expensive,  aroused  also  by  the  Stamp  Act  and  other  Lord 
North's  vagaries,  the  people  concluded  to  bide  their  time  and 
go  to  Wrentham  to  vote  or  stay  at  home.  So  the  town  ques- 
tion had  rest  until  the  exigencies  of  the  War  of  Independence 
called  for  still  more  frequent  and  energetic  gatherings. 
Then  it  came  up  in  earnest.  In  the  war  meetings  necessary  — 
seven  in  that  current  year  of  1777  —  it  was  a  burden  to  travel 
from  five  to  eight  miles  to  Wrentham,  and  the  population  had 
become  large  enough  to  justify  the  civil  separation  of  the  two 
religious  precincts.  Therefore,  Dec.  29,  1777,  a  petition  is 
addressed  to  Wrentham  for  "  liberty  to  be  set  off  into  a  dis- 
trict township,  according  to  grant  of  court  that  they  were  at 
first  incorporated  into  a  precinct,  with  a  part  of  said  town's 
money  and  stocks."  Dea.  Jabez  Fisher,  Esq.,  Jonathan  Met- 
calf,  Samuel  Sethbridge,  Asa  Whiting,  Dr.  John  Metcalf,  Jos. 
Hawes,  and  Capt.  John  Boyd,  chief  men  of  the  precinct,  are 
put  in  charge  of  the  matter.  Wrentham  responds,  January 
26,  by  adopting  certain  terms,  and  sends  a  committee  of  nine 


40  HISTORY   OF   FRANKLIN. 

to  give  attention  to  tlie  arguments  of  the  Westerners.  The 
result  reported  by  the  joint  committee,  February  21,  is  a 
unanimous  conclusion  that  "  said  inhabitants  be  Set  off  as  a 
Separate  townsliip  by  themselves,"  and  tlie  process  is  begun. 

In  the  further  arrangements  it  is  suggestive  of  tlie  tlirift 
of  the  whole  town  that  there  are  but  five  paupers,  two  only 
of  whom  fall  to  the  new  town.  It  is  agreed  that  the  fire- 
arms, important  assets  now  in  1777,  be  divided  by  the  rela- 
tive pool  and  estate,  and  tlie  powder,  ball,  flints,  and  otlier 
stores  of  that  kind,  according  to  tlie  number  of  training-band 
and  alarum  list.  The  men  raised  for  the  Continental  army 
are  to  be  proportionally  paid  for  and  accredited  to  tlie  town's 
quota.  The  salt  allowed  by  the  General  Court  is  divided, 
and  all  other  properties  adjusted.  After  lengthy  discussion 
and  some  scruples,  whose  phraseology  suggests  the  sharp 
watch  of  Jabez  Fisher,  the  precinct  accepts  tlie  terms  of  the 
town  and  elects  a  committee  to  present  their  petition  to  the 
General  Court.  Among  the  acts  of  1778  appears  the  cliarter 
of  incorporation,  dated  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  Feb- 
ruary 27,  and  in  the  council  Marcli  2. 

The  petition  which  sets  forth  the  arguments  of  our  fathers 
for  a  separate  civil  existence,  and  the  act  by  which  such  an 
existence  was  established,  are  of  interest  enough  to  be  here 
inserted. 

To  the  HotwrahJe  Council  Sf  Huvse  of  Representatives  of  the 
State  of  Massachvsvtts  Bay  in  General  Court  Assembled  : 
The  petition  of  the  subscribers  in  liehalf  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  West  Precinct  in  Wrentham  Humbly  shewcth  :  — 

That  the  Townsliip  of  Wrentham  is  Considerably  Large 
and  the  inhabitants  with  their  Lands  &  improvements  are 
situated  very  much  in  two  Divissions  and  but  thinly  settled 
Between  the  two  Precincts,  the  Lands  admitting  of  but  few 
settlements.  That  the  Publiclv  Business  of  the  Town  Neces- 
sary to  be  Transacted  is  very  Considerable  and  has  Long  been 
Complained  of  as  a  Burden  by  those  who  are  obliged  to  take  a 
part,  by  means  of  Travil  &  Fatigue  togotiier  with  the  Disa- 
pointments  that  often  take  place.  That  your  Petitioners  appre- 
hend themselves  sufficient  in  Number  and  Ability  for  a  Town, 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  41 

and  that  in  niaiiy  Respects  y'  advantages  to  them  would  be 
mucli  greater  than  to  remain  in  their  present  situation.  That 
they  have  lately  obtained  a  vote  of  tlie  Town  E.vpressing  their 
willingness  that  your  ])etitioners  should  be  incorporated  into  a 
Town  liy  the  following  Bound,  viz  Begining  at  Charles  river 
where  Medfield  line  comes  to  said  river  thence  running  south 
seventeen  Degrees  and  an  half  west  untill  it  comes  to  one 
rod  east  of  the  Dwelling  House  of  M'  William  Man  thence  a 
strait  line  to  the  easterly  Corner  of  M''  Asa  Whitings  Barn, 
thence  a  strait  line  to  si.xty  rod,  Due  south  of  the  old  Cellar 
where  the  Dwelling  House  of  Eben''  Healey  formally  stood 
a  Due  west  Course  by  the  Needle  to  Bellingliam  line  said  Bel- 
lingham  line  to  be  y"  West  Bounds  and  Charles  river  to  be  the 
Northerly  Bounds  your  pet"  Therefore  Humldy  pray  That 
your  Honors  wou'd  be  pleased  to  incorporate  them  into  a  Town 
by  y"  above  Discribed  Bound,  With  the  same  powers  &  Privi- 
leges that  are  allowed  to  other  Towns  within  this  state. 


And  your  pet"  as  in  Duty  Bound  shall  pray  "^ 

SaM'^"-   LeTHBRIDG,  1    p„^to.. 

Joseph  Hawes  r  ^°™ 

Joseph  Whiting  Jr  J 

State  of  Massachusetts  )  T    i-i  c         rcwtrt-inTo 

J,  [  In  the  year  of  our  LORD  1778. 

An  Act  incorporatmo'  tlie  Westerly  Part  of  the    Town  of 

Wrentham  in  the  Count//  of  Suffolk  into  a  Town  by  the 

name  0/ Franklin. 

Whereas  the  Inhabitants  of  tlie  Westerly  part  of  the  Town 
of  Wrentham  in  the  County  of  Suffolk  have  Represented  to 
this  Court  the  Difficulties  they  Labour  under  in  their  present 
situation  and  pprehending  themselves  of  sufficient  Numbers 
<fe  Al)ility  request  that  they  may  be  incorporated  into  a  sepe- 
rate  Town. 

Be  it  Therefore  Enacted  By  the  Council  &  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives in  General  Court  Assembled  &  liy  the  Authority  of 
the  same  That  the  Westerly  part  of  said  Town  of  Wrentham 
seperated  )jy  a  line  as  follows,  viz  Begining  at  Charles  river 
where  Medfield  line  conies  to  said  river,  thence  running  south 
seventeen  degrees  and  an  half  west  untill  it  comes  to  one  rod 
East  of  y"  Dwelling  House  of  William  Man  thence  a  strait  line 
to  the  eastwardly  corner  of  Asa  Whiting'  barn,  thence  a  strait 
line  to  sixty  rods  due  south  of  the  old  celler  where  the  Dwell- 
ing House  of  Ebenezer  Healy  formerly  stood  thence  a  Due 


42  HISTORY   OF   FRANKLIN. 

West  Course  by  the  Needle  to  Belliiigham  line,  said  Belling- 
ham  line  to  be  the  West  Bounds  and  Charles  river  the  North- 
erly Bounds,  Be  and  hereby  is  incor|)orated  into  Distinct  and 
seperate  Town  by  the  name  of  Franklin  and  invested  with  all 
the  powers  Privileges  and  immunities  that  Towns  in  this  state 
do  or  may  enjoy. 

And  bo  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid. 
That  the  inhabitants  of  said  Town  of  Franklin  shall  pay 
their  proportion  of  all  state  county  and  Town  Charges  already 
granted  to  be  raised  in  the  Town  of  Wrentham  and  also  their 
proportion  of  the  pay  of  the  Representative  for  the  present 
Year  and  the  said  Towns  of  Wrentham  and  Town  of  Franklin 
shall  severally  be  held  punctually  to  stand  by  &  perform  to 
each  other  the  Terms  &  proposals  Contained  aiul  Expressed 
in  a  vote  of  the  Town  of  Wrentham  passed  at  Publick  Town 
Meetiug  the  sixteenth  Day  of  February  1778  according  to  y° 
plain  and  obvious  meaning  thereof,  and 

Be  it  also  Enacted  by  y*'  Authority  aforesaid.  That  Jabez 
Fisher,  Esq'  Be  &  he  hereby  is  authorized  &  required  to  issue 
his  warrant  to  one  of  the  principal  inliabitants  of  said  Town 
of  Franklin,  authorizing  &  requiring  Jiim  to  Notifie  and  warn 
the  Freeholders  &  other  inhabitants  of  said  Town  to  meet 
together  at  such  time  and  place  as  shall  be  expressed  in  said 
warrant.  To  choose  such  officers  as  Towns  are  authorized 
by  Law  to  Choose  and  Transact  otiier  such  LawfuU  matters 
as  shall  be  expressed  in  said  warrant. 

And  be  it  further  enacted  Tiiat  the  inhabitants  living 
within  y"  Bounds  aforesaid  who  in  the  Late  Tax  in  the 
Town  of  wrentham  were  rated  one  half  part  so  much  for 
their  Estates  and  Faculties  as  for  one  single  Poll  shall  be 
taken  and  Holden  to  be  Qualiired  and  l)e  allowed  to  Vote  in 
their  first  Meeting  for  the  Clioice  of  otficers  and  such  other 
meetings  as  may  be  Called  in  said  Town  of  Franklin  until] 
a  valuation  of  Estates  shall  be  made  by  Assessors  there. 

In  the  House  of  Representatives,  Feby.  27,  1778. 

This  Bill  having  been  read 
three  several  times  passed  to  be 

engrossed.  Sent  up  for  Concurrence, 

J.  Warren  Syke. 

In  Council,  March  2d,  1778. 
This  Bill  having  had  two  several 
Readings,  passed  a  Concurrence,  to  be  engrossed. 

Jno.  Avery,  Dpy.  Secy. 


HISTORICAL   ADDRESS.  43 

In  the  original  draft  of  the  charter,  as  preserved  in  the 
State  archives,  the  name  of  this  town  is  written  thronghout 
Exeter.  In  some  of  the  readings  dnring  its  passage,  that 
name  was  erased,  and  overwritten  Franklin.  In  all  the  votes 
of  this  precinct  and  of  Wrcntham,  I  find  no  name  suggested 
for  the  new  town.  They  probably  left  its  christening  to  the 
honored  General  Court.  But  why  the  name  of  Exeter  was 
first  inserted  in  the  act,  and  why  afterwards  changed  to 
Franklin,  is  a  conundrum  for  the  curious.  I  venture  to  sug- 
gest, however,  that  if  the  committee  in  charge  of  the  petition 
were  asked  for  a  name  of  the  new  township,  or  if  they  were 
dissatisfied  with  the  proposed  Exeter,  there  was  none  of 
them  more  likely  to  suggest  a  change  than  its  chairman, 
Jabez  Fisher  —  an  ardent  patriot  of  liberty,  and  a  prominent 
man  in  state  councils  ;  and  the  reasons  for  preferring  the 
name  of  Franklin  to  that  of  Exeter  are  not  less  apparent. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Benjamin  Franklin,  with  two 
others,  had  been  sent  to  France  immediately  upon  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  in  1776  to  negotiate  a  treaty  of 
recognition  and  alliance.  But  the  French  government  cau- 
tiously dallied  with  him  until  the  close  of  1777.  But  the 
news  of  the  capture  of  Burgoyne  removed  their  hesitancies, 
and  on  the  6th  of  January  Louis  XVI  entered  into  a  treaty 
of  amity  and  commerce  with  the  colonies.  The  news  came 
rapidly  to  this  country,  and  it  was  a  graceful  tribute  to  the 
successful  diplomatist,  Franklin,  that  the  town,  just  at  that 
date  applying  for  incorporation,  should  bear  his  name. 

Though  we  may  be  among  the  smallest  of  the  twenty-nine 
Franklins  in  our  tribes  of  Columbia,  besides  the  nineteen 
Franklinvilles,  Franklintons,  etc.,  yet  we  are  the  first-born 
heir  of  this  large  family,  and  oldest  to  the  honors  of  the 
distinguished  name.  We  may  well  commemorate  our  birth- 
day with  centennial  rejoicings. 

The  ambassador  to  St.  Cloud,  as  soon  as  his  weighty 
duties  permitted,  showed  that  he  himself  understood  and  ap- 
preciated the  compliment.      For  he  requested  Dr.  Price,  of 


44  HISTORY    OP    FRANKLIN. 

London,  to  make  choice  of  proper  books  for  a  library  for 
Franklin,  as  his  acknowledgment  to  his  namesake  in  Massa- 
chusetts.* That  library  contained,  according  to  the  earliest 
catalogue  extant,  116  volumes,  many  of  them  folios,  and  of 
which  the  most  secular  and  frivolous  was  the  life  of  Baron 
Trenk.  It  has  become  the  basis  of  a  public  library  of  3,000 
volumes. 

And  Dr.  Franklin  had  no  occasion  to  be  ashamed  of  either 
the  intelligence  or  the  patriotism  of  his  namesake  town  ;  for 
its  prompt  and  unanimous  participation  in  all  the  trying  times 
of  the  War  of  Independence  fully  assured  him  of  both.  The 
responses  of  this  town  were  prompt  and  hearty  to  every  move- 
ment in  defense  of  the  liberties  of  the  colonies  —  even  from 
the  time  of  the  salary  debate  with  Governor  Burnet  in  1728  unto 
the  acknowledgment  of  their  independence  in  1783.  Whether 
the  calls  were  for  troops  or  for  money,  for  opinions  upon  poli- 
cies or  protests  against  royal  aggressions,  the  town  always 
answered,  and  in  no  lukewarm  words  or  ambiguous  actions. 
Indeed,  some  of  the  papers  reported  by  special  committees  and 
adopted  by  this  town  are  worthy  of  careful  study  in  this  day 
of  wordy  ambiguities,  as  models  of  patriotic  and  broad  political 
sense  not  surpassed  even  by  the  wise  colonial  proclamations. 
And  this  is  not  surprising  when  the  wisest  and  best  men  of 
the  town  were  chosen  as  the  Committee  of  Correspondence, 
Representatives  to  the  General  Court,  and  delegates  to  District 
Conventions. 

It  is  now  well  known  that  Boston,  as  the  metropolis  of  New 
England,  and  especially  restive  under  its  so  close  contact  with 
the  officers  of  the  British  crown,  vigilantly  watched  their 
every  movement,  and  informed  the  committees  of  correspond- 
ence of  each  town  in  its  vicinity.  The  towns  replied  vigo- 
rously to  these  Boston  letters.  Thus  the  pulsations  of  liberty 
beat  isoclironously  in  all  patriotic  hearts,  and  a  unified  pur- 
pose gathered  into  strength  in  every  arm.  That  sympathy  of 
intelligence  and  feeling  was  the  spirit  of  ultimate  victory  ;  for 

*  See  Addenda  for  more  extended  notice  of  the  Franklin  Library. 


HISTORICAL   ADDRESS.  45 

the  resisting  Bostonians  knew  ■whom  they  had  behind  them, 
hid  away  in  the  little  hamlets  and  on  tlie  scattered  farms  to 
the  north,  west  and  south  of  tlie  Bay.  When,  therefore,  they 
sounded  the  alarm  on  the  attempted  seizure  of  the  stores  at 
Concord,  in  a  few  liours  twenty  thousand  armed  men  from  the 
coimtry  towns  hurried  to  Boston  and  barricaded  it  from  Dor- 
chester to  Clielsea,  as  if  they  would  force  Governor  Gage  and  his 
soldiers  into  the  sea.  In  all  these  movements,  Franklin  was 
never  a  whit  behind.  It  had  more  than  one  man  in  it  lika 
Jabez  Fislier,  whose  fervor  kindled  and  whose  wisdom  di- 
rected its  action  perpetually.  But  Fisher's  hand  is  especially 
traceable  in  the  reports  and  resolves  of  the  town  during  tlie 
revolutionary  period. 

The  Stamp  Act  of  1765  called  forth  a  very  earnest  protest 
from  the  town.  But  the  letter  from  Boston  in  1772,  on  the 
Governor's  assumption  that  the  colonial  charter  should  be  in- 
terpreted or  revoked  even,  at  the  pleasure  of  the  King,  and  on 
the  order  of  Parliament  that  the  salaries  of  the  Governor, 
Judges,  &c.,  should  be  taken  directly  from  the  American  rev- 
enues, instead  of  paid  by  grant  of  the  General  Court  as  afore- 
time, awakened  a  deep  and  wide  alarm,  and  drew  out  vigorous 
responses  from  all  the  towns.  Boston  denounced  the  assump- 
tion as  an  infraction  of  its  charter,  and  the  parliamentary 
order  as  a  direct  and  long  step  towards  despotism.  The  let- 
ter to  the  towns  —  after  a  recital  of  the  facts  —  closes  thus  : 
"  Let  lis  consider,  brethren,  we  are  struggling  for  our  best 
rights  and  inheritance,  which  being  infringed  renders  all 
blessings  precarious  in  their  enjoyment,  and  consequently  tri- 
fling in  their  value.  Let  us  disappoint  the  men  who  are  raising 
themselves  on  the  ruin  of  this  country.  Let  us  convince  every 
invader  of  our  freedom  that  we  will  be  as  free  as  the  Consti- 
tution our  Fathers  recognized  will  justify."  Of  this  appeal, 
and  the  historical  statements  accompanying,  over  six  hundred 
copies  were  printed  and  sent  to  the  towns.  The  copy  sent  to 
Franklin  drew  out  a  long  and  vigorous  statement  of  our  fathers' 
theory  of  their  rights. 


46  HISTORY    OP    FRANKLIN. 

Tlieir  paper  deserves  a  place  in  this  history  of  their  times, 
as  showing  their  clear  appreciation  of  the  situation.  It  was 
adapted  in  a  public  town  meeting,  11th  January,  1773  :  — 

1.  Resolved  that  the  British  Constitution  is  grounded  on 
the  eternal  law  of  Nature,  a  Constitution  whose  foundation 
and  center  is  liberty,  which  sends  liberty  to  any  subject  that 
is  or  may  happen  to  be  within  any  part  of  its  ample  circum- 
ference. 

2.  That  every  part  of  the  British  dominions  hath  a  right 
freely  to  enjoy  all  the  benefits  and  privileges  of  tliis  happy 
Constitution,  and  that  no  power  of  Legislation  or  Governors 
on  Earth  can  justly  abridge  or  deprive  any  part  of  the  British 
dominions  from  tlieir  liberties,  without  doing  violence  to  his 
happy  Constitution  and  its  true  principles. 

3.  That  every  part  of  the  British  dominions  in  which  acts 
■of  the  Jiritisli  Parliament  are  e.Kcrcised  contrary  to  the  true 
principles  of  the  Constitution  have  always  and  ought  to  have 
a  right  to  petition  and  remonstrate,  or  join  in  petitioning  and 
remonstrating  to  the  King,  Lords  and  Commons  of  Great 
Britain,  that  all  such  acts  of  Parliament  may  speedily  be  I'e- 
moved,  abrogated  and  repealed. 

4.  That  the  Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay  have  a  right, 
■not  only  by  nature  and  the  laws  of  England,  but  by  social 
compact,  to  enjoy  all  the  rights,  liberties  and  immnnitics  of 
natural  and  freeborn  subjects  of  Gi-eat  Britain  to  all  intents 
and  purposes  whatever  ;  and  that  acts  of  tiie  British  Parlia- 
ment imposing  rates  and  duties  of  the  inhabitants  of  this 
Province,  while  they  are  unrepresented  in  the  Parliament  of 
■Great  Britain,  are  violations  of  those  rights  and  ought  to  be 
contended  for  with  firmness. 

Resolved^  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  town  that  the  act  of 
the  British  Parliament  in  assuming  the  power  of  Legislation 
for  the  Colonies  in  all  cases  whatsoever,  and  in  consequence  of 
that  act  have  carried  into  execution  that  assumed  power  in 
laying  duties  on  divers  articles  in  the  Colonies  for  the  ex- 
press purpose  of  raising  a  revenue  without  their  consent, 
either  by  themselves  or  their  Representatives,  whereby  the 
right  which  any  man  has  to  his  own  property  is  wholly  taken 
away  and  destroyed  ;  and  what  is  more  alarming  still  is,  to 
see  the  amazing  inroads  which  have  been  made  and  still  are 
making  in  our  ciiarter  rights  and  privileges  by  placing  a 
Board  of  Commissioners  amongst  us  under  so  large  a  com- 


HISTORICAL    ADDllESS.  47 

mission  with  a  train  of  attendants  to  sap  the  foundation  of 
our  industry  —  our  Coasts  surrounded  with  fleets — standing 
armies  jihiced  in  free  cities  in  time  of  peace  without  tiie  con- 
sent of  tlie  inhahitants,  wliereby  the  streets  of  the  Metropolis 
of  this  Province  have  been  stained  with  the  blood  of  its  inno- 
cent inhabitants  ;  the  Governor  of  this  Province  made  inde- 
pendent of  the  grants  of  the  General  Assembly  ;  large  sala- 
ries affixed  to  the  Lieutenant-Governor,  the  Judges  of  the 
Admiralty,  etc.  ;  the  amazing  sti-etcli  of  the  power  of  the 
courts  of  Vice,  admitting  in  a  great  measure  depi-iving  the 
people  in  the  Cols,  of  their  right  to  trial  by  Jury  and  such 
like  innovations,  which  are  intolerable  grievances,  tending 
wholly  to  deprive  us  of  our  Cliarter  rights  and  privileges,  pull 
•down  the  Constitution  and  reduce  us  to  a  state  of  abject 
slavery. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  town  that  the  pre- 
vailing report,  which  they  have  reason  to  apprehend  is  well- 
grounded,  that  further  inroads  are  contemplating  on  their 
rights  and  liljerties  by  affixing  stipends  to  the  offices  of  the 
Judges  of  the  Superior  Courts  of  Judicature,  etc.,  whereby 
they  are  to  be  made  wholly  independent  of  the  grants  of  the 
General  Assembly  for  their  support,  is  such  a  large  stride 
towards  despotism  as  fills  us  witli  fresh  and  more  alarming 
fears  of  further  invasions  of  our  rights  and  privileges  being 
trampled  upon,  viz  :  By  making  the  Judges  thus  dependent 
upon  the  Crown  for  their  place  and  support  will  have  a  ten- 
dency to  bribe  the  present  respectable  gentlemen  to  become 
tools  to  a  despotic  administration,  and  if  that  should  fail,  it 
will  be  easy  to  supply  their  seats  with  those  calculated  for 
such  a  purpose.  2d,  Thus  calculated,  nothing  will  be  want- 
ing but  an  absolute  Government  which  may  be  over  the  Prov- 
ince qualified  with  new  acts  of  Parliament  adapted  to  their 
purpose  which  would  exclude  every  individual  in  this  Prov- 
ince from  asserting  and  supjwrting  his  rights,  and  turn  the 
sacred  stream  of  justice  into  but  little  short  of  an  unwar- 
ranted inquisition. 

Resolved,  That  this  town  ever  acknowledge  the  care  and 
vigilance  which  the  town  of  Boston  have  discovered  in  stating 
the  rights  of  the  Colonies  in  so  just  a  manner,  and  in  point- 
ing out  the  many  infringements  and  violations  of  those  rights 
this  Province  labors  under,  at  the  same  time  assuring  them 
that  as  this  town  hopes  never  to  be  wanting  in  their  duty  and 
loyalty  to  their  Kiug,  so  they  are  ever  ready  to  do  everything 


48  HISTORY   OP   FRANKLIN. 

in  their  power  in  a  constitutional  way  to  assist  in  carrying 
into  execution  sucli  measures  as  may  be  adapted  to  remove 
tliose  difficulties  we  feel,  and  to  prevent  those  we  have  reason 
to  fear. 

In  the  name  of  the  Committee, 

David  Man. 

The  committee  were  David  Man,  Capt.  John  Smith,  Jabez 
Fisher,  Lemuel  KoUock,  Thomas  Man. 

This  Avas  the  key-note  of  every  resolve  passed  by  tlie  town 
in  its  thirty-one  town  meetings  held  in  the  five  years  between 
January,  1773 — the  beginning  of  Governor  Hutchinson's  as- 
sumptions— and  February  16,1778 — the  last  meeting  held 
before  the  separation  of  Franklin  from  Wrentham.  This 
trumpet  certainly  gave  no  uncertain  sound  of  the  coming 
conflict  with  royal  dictation. 

The  town,  also,  had  a  way  in  those  days  of  instructing 
their  representatives  to  the  General  Court  how  to  act  on 
measures  which  touched  their  vital  interests.  These  papers 
expressed  tlie  sentiments  of  tlia  citizens,  and  became,  there- 
fore, valuable  indices  of  the  popular  convictions.  Amongst 
the  most  expressive  of  tliese  papers,  and  certainly  very  sug- 
gestive of  the  ripeness  for  independence  of  this  part  of  the 
colony,  are  the  instructions  adopted  in  the  town  meeting  of 
June  5,  1776.  They  have  a  ring  of  liberty  whose  echoes 
ought  to  thrill  in  the  ears  of  the  supple  and  molluscous 
men  of  these  hesitating  times.  They  are  addressed  "  to  Mr. 
Benjamin  Guild,  Mr.  Joseph  Hawes,  and  Doct.  Ebenezer  Dag- 
gett, chosen  to  represent  the  town  of  Wrentham  in  the 
General  Assembly,  the  ensuing  year:  — 

Gentlemen,  We,  your  constituents,  in  full  town  meeting, 
June  5, 1776,  give  you  the  following  instructions  :  — 

Whereas,  Tyranny  and  oppression,  a  little  more  than  one 
century  and  a  half  ago,  obliged  our  forefatliers  to  quit  their 
peaceful  habitations,  and  seek  an  asylum  in  this  distant  land, 
amidst  an  howling  wilderness,  surrounded  with  savage  ene- 
mies, destitute  almost  of  every  convenience  of  life  was  their 
unhappy  situation ;  but  such  was  tlieir  zeal  for  the  common 
rights   of  mankind,  that  they   (under   the  smile   of  Divine 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  49 

Providence),  surmounted  every  difficulty,  and  in  a  little 
time  were  in  the  exercise  of  civil  government  under  a  char- 
ter of  the  crown  of  Great  Britain :  —  but  after  some  years 
liad  passed,  and  the  colonies  had  become  of  some  importance, 
new  troubles  began  to  arise.  The  same  spirit  whicli  caused 
them  to  leave  their  native  land  still  pursued  them,  joined  by 
designing  men  among  themselves  —  letters  began  to  be  wrote 
against  the  government,  and  the  first  charter  soon  after 
destroyed  ;  in  this  situation  some  years  passed  before  another 
charter  could  be  obtained,  and  although  many  of  the  gifts 
jind  priviliges  of  tlie  first  charter  were  abridged  by  the  last, 
yet  in  that  situation  the  government  has  been  tolerably  quiet 
luitil  about  the  year  1763 ;  since  which  the  same  spirit  of  op- 
pression has  risen  up  ;  letters  by  divers  ill-minded  persons 
liave  been  wrote  against  the  Government,  (in  consequence 
of  which  divers  acts  of  the  British  Parliament  made,  muti- 
lating and  destroying  the  charter,  and  wholly  subscrvive  of 
the  constitution) ;  fleets  and  armies  have  been  sent  to  enforce 
them,  and  at  length  a  civil  war  has  commenced,  and  the 
sword  is  drawn  in  our  land,  and  tlie  whole  united  colonies 
involved  in  one  common  cause  ;  the  repeated  and  humble 
petitions  of  the  good  people  of  tiiese  colonies  have  been  wan- 
tonly rejected  with  disdain  ;  the  Prince  we  once  adored  has 
now  commissioned  the  instruments  of  his  hostile  oppression 
to  lay  waste  our  dwellings  with  fire  and  sword,  to  rob  us  of 
our  property,  and  wantonly  to  stain  the  land  with  the  blood 
'of  its  innocent  inliabitants ;  he  has  entered  into  treaties  with 
the  most  cruel  nations  to  hire  an  army  of  foreign  mercenaries 
to  subjugate  the  colonies  to  his  cruel  and  arbitrary  purposes. 
In  short,  all  hope  of  an  accommodation  is  entirely  at  an  end, 
a  reconciliation  as  dangerous  as  it  is  absurd  ;  a  recollection  of 
past  injuries  will  naturally  keep  alive  and  kindle  the  flames  of 
jealousy.  We,  your  constituents,  therefore  think  that  to  be 
subject  or  dependent  on  the  crown  of  Great  Britain  would 
not  only  be  impracticable,  but  unsafe  to  the  state ;  the  in- 
habitants of  this  town,  therefore,  in  full  town  meeting.  Unani- 
mously instruct  and  direct  you  (;.  e.  the  representatives)  to 
give  your  vote  that,  if  the  Honorable  American  Congress  (in 
whom  we  place  the  highest  confidence  under  God,)  should 
think  it  necessary  for  the  safety  of  the  United  Colonics  to 
declare  them  independent  of  Great  Britain,  that  we  your 
constituents  with  our  lives  and  fortunes  will  most  cheerfully 
support  them  in  the  measure. 

4 


50  HISTOKY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

The  record  of  this  arousing  utterance,  less  than  a  month 
before  the  famous  4th  of  July,  1776,  very  modestly  says  : 
"  The  above  report,  after  being  several  times  distinctly  read 
and  considered  by  the  town,  was  unanimously  voted  in  the 
affirmative  without  even  one  dissentient." 

But  these  votes,  unlike  the  resolves  of  many  later  conven- 
tions, meant  all  they  avowed  of  work,  self-denial,  blood  —  for 
the  records  of  the  town  show  that  carefully  deliberated  and 
resolutely  formed  determinations  lay  behind  them.  The  men 
of  that  time  had  put  their  hands  to  the  plow  with  no  intention 
of  looking  back  until  their  furrows  had  uprooted  every  trans- 
plant of  a  foreign  monarchy  in  this  land  of  freedom.  Accord- 
ingly, on  the  first  open  aggression  of  the  coming  collision,  when 
Governor  Gage  encamped  his  troops  on  Boston  Common, 
the  town  voted,  Sept.  15,  1774,  to  buy  two  pieces  of  cannon, 
"  of  the  size  &  Bigness  most  proper  &  beneficial  for  tlie 
town  ;"  and  at  an  adjournment,  two  weeks  later,  it  appointed 
Mr.  Joseph  Spur  and  Capt.  Pei'ez  Gushing  chief  gunners,  and 
ordered  each  to  see  that  his  piece  was  "  fit  for  action  as  soon  as 
may  be."  Affairs  were  rapidly  coming  to  some  crisis.  Governor 
Gage  had  suspended  the  meeting  of  the  General  Court,  which 
lie  had  called  at  Salem  for  October  5.  But  ninety  members  met, 
and  with  John  Hancock  as  President,  adjourned  to  Cambridge. 
Here  they  formed  a  plan  for  the  defense  of  the  Colony,  and 
directed  a  general  enlistment  of  12,000  men  to  be  ready  at  a 
minute's  notice  for  action.  Hence  the  two  cannon  for  self- 
protection,  the  minute-men  enlisted  by  town  vote,  the  commis- 
sion of  Jabez  Fisher  as  delegate  to  a  Provincial  Congress  at 
Concord  on  the  second  Tuesday  of  October,  and  the  "  increase 
of  the  town  stock  to  such  a  degree  with  powder.  Ball  &  shot 
as  the  gunners  &  Captains  of  each  parish  shall  think  pro- 
per." The  town  also  adopted  the  advice  of  the  Provincial 
Congress,  and  at  a  special  meeting  November  22,  ordered  the 
constables  not  to  pay  any  town  moneys  to  Harrison  Gray,  the 
royalist  treasurer,  but  to  Henry  Gardner  of  Stow,  for  the  use 
of  the  Province,  '•  and  tlie  town  will  stand  in  tlie  way  of  any 
harm  to  tliem." 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  51 

At  the  meeting  of  Jan.  •!,  1775,  a  Committee  of  Inspection 
of  fifteen  were  ordered  to  see  to  the  execution  of  tlic  advice  of 
the  Continental  and  Provincial  Congresses,  and  another  of 
seven  to  seciu'e  two  companies  of  minute-men  to  tlie  number 
of  one-fourtli  of  the  training  band  lists.  Tliose  committees 
were :  1st,  Elisha  Ware,  Jeremiah  Day,  John  Whiting,  Doct, 
Ebenezer  Daggett,  Lieut.  Joseph  Everett,  Lieut.  Samuel  Fisher. 
Lieut.  Joseph  Fairbanks,  John  Hall,  Esq.,  Samuel  CowelL 
Joseph  Whiting,  Jr.,  Doct.  John  Metcalf,  Samuel  Lethbridge, 
Joseph  Woodward,  Capt.  Perez  Gushing,  and  Dea.  Jabez 
Fisher :  '2d.,  Benjamin  Hawes,  Dea.  Jabez  Fisher,  Joseph  Wood- 
ward, Dea.  Thomas  Man,  Asa  Wliiting,  Lieut.  Samuel  Fisher, 
and  Lemuel  Kollock. 

Under  such  men  tilings  move  vigorously.  The  minute-men 
are  equipped  each  •'  with  a  good  fire-arm,  bayonet,  pouch, 
knapsack,  and  thii'ty  rounds  of  cartridge  by  the  twentieth  day 
of  February"  —  for  tiiey  know  not  how  soon  Gage's  mercena- 
ries may  be  after  their  two  cannon,  and  the  two  captains  are 
directed  to  "  train  and  exercise  the  men  in  military  exercise 
one  half  day  in  every  fortnight  to  the  1st  of  April  next,  and 
from  and  after  that  time  to  the  1st  of  May  next  two  half 
days  in  every  week,  four  hours  in  every  half  day."*  For  this 
service  the  captains  will  receive  16d.  per  half  day,  each  sub- 
altern officer  14d.,  four  sergeants  per  each  company  12d.,  four 
corporals,  one  drummer  and  one  fifer,  each  lOd.,  and  each 
private  9d. 

But  Concord  and  Lexington  and  Bunker  Hill  are  demand- 
ing more  than  minute-men,  trainings,  and  letters  of  commit- 
tees of  correspondence.  Though  our  half  of  the  committee 
of  eleven  be  such  men  as  Hezekiah  Fisher,  Joseph  Hawes, 
Capt.  Asa  Fairbanks,  Capt.  Perez  Cushing,  and  Joseph  Whit- 
ing, yet  the  country  wants  men  in  the  field.  The  town,  tliere- 
fore,  springs  promptly  to  the  call  for  fifteen  battalions  offered 
by  Massachusetts  ;  and  when  volunteers  lag,  it  orders,  8th 
July,  1776,  the  two  companies  to  draft  "  whom  they  think 

*  For  lists  of  Franklin's  minute-men  see  military  chapter  in  Addenda. 


52  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

most  Equal  and  Just  to  do  a  turn  or  lialf  turn,  reference  be- 
ing had  to  what  they  formerly  had  done,"  who  shall  go,  find 
a  substitute,  or  pay  £8  per  turn  to  the  officers  to  procure  one. 
In  the  spring  of  1777,  as  the  conflict  deepens  into  a  war, 
40s.  per  month,  after  the  first  year,  are  offered  to  three 
years'  men;  or,  if  they  prefer,  X20  at  once,  in  addition  to 
the  Continental  and  State  bounties. 

But  the  patriots  had  eyes  to  look  sharply  after  home 
enemies  as  well  as  foreign  ;  and  at  the  suggestion  of  the  State 
Assembly  they  choose,  May  26,  1777,  Mv.  Joseph  Hawes  to 
look  after  and  report  all  tories  to  the  proper  court.  The  sol- 
diers' families  are  not  forgotten,  and  a  committee  is  chosen, 
September  3,  to  see  that  they  are  "  supplied  with  the  neces- 
saries of  life  at  a  stipulated  price,  at  the  town's  cost." 

The  last  vote  of  the  whole  town,  previous  to  the  incorpora- 
tion of  Fj-ankliu,  touching  the  war,  was  on  Feb.  16, 1778,  and 
is  tlie  acceptance  of  a  committee's  report  that  the  full  quota  of 
tlie  town,  "  being  tliefuU  seventh  part  of  the  maleinliabitants 
of  this  town,"  lias  been  secured  by  theenlistment  of  five  men 
at  £60  for  each  man. 

With  this  clean  record  for  liberty,  the  town  of  Franklin 
starts  on  its  independent  career. 

Our  records  as  a  new  town  open  with  a  copy  of  the  act  of 
incorporation  and  the  order  for  a  meeting  to  organize,  issued 
by  Jabez  Fisher,  justice  of  the  peace,  and  addressed  to  Sam- 
uel Lcthbridge  "  one  of  the  principal  inhabitants."  That  first 
meeting  is  held  on  Monday,  March  23, 1778,  at  9  o'clock,  a.  m  ., 
and  chooses  its  town  officers  and  its  committee  of  correspond- 
ence—  Capt.  John  Boyd,  Dea.  Daniel  Thurston,  Lieut.  Eben- 
ezer  Dean,  Capt.  Thomas  Bacon,  Joseph  Guild,  the  leading 
patriots  of  the  town  —  and  then  adjourns  one  month  to  look 
into  and  make  up  their  minds  upon  the  new  State  constitution. 
In  no  whit  in  any  subsequent  meetings  was  the  town  derelict 
to  any  call  for  aid  from  the  State  or  the  struggling  nation. 

Of  the  burdens  of  that  time  we  have  little  conception.  We 
have  been  restive   under  the  expenses  of  the  late  rebellion 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  53 

and  the  depreciation  of  our  currency,  and  some  resist  resump- 
tion when  it  involves  a  fall  of  only  one-quarter  of  one  per  cent. 
But  in  July,  1781,  the  ratio  of  paper  to  silver  was  as  one  to 
forty  :  and  in  .^ei)teraber,  as  one  to  one  hundred  and  fifty.  In 
February.  1782, tlie  town  paid  ,£400  for  ten  shirts  to  Dea.  Joseph 
Whiting ;  who,  of  course,  would  not  overcharge.  In  this  same 
year  of  "82.  the  town  expenses  amounted  to  £100,765  Is.  6d., 
in  which  the  collector  had  unwittingly  taken  £51  counterfeit  — 
relatively  to  the  value  of  the  rest,  a  very  small  offense !  No 
wonder  the  town  voted,  March,  1784,  that "  the  old  Continental 
money  and  the  new  emission  money  in  the  town  treasury  shall 
go  into  a  ministerial  fund  forever."  It  was  a  grim  joke  upon 
a  paper  currency,  and  explains,  perhaps,  why  you  cannot  now 
find  that  fund. 

But  the  fathers  endured  this  bitter  depreciation  as  the  home 
part  of  the  price  of  liberty.  They  also  readily  adopted  the 
scale  of  prices  recommended  by  the  Concord  Convention  of 
1779  —  to  keep  down  exorbitant  charges  —  and  chose  a  com- 
mittee to  see  to  it,  and  they  voted  to  publish  in  the  Boston 
papers  the  names  of  all  non-conformists  to  the  prices.  They 
voted  also,  that  •'  the  town  will  have  no  commercial  dealings 
with  such."  It  furnishes  its  quota  of  beef  for  the  army  — 
33,908  lbs.  in  eighteen  months  —  and  supplies  the  men  sent 
to  suppress  the  Shays  Rebellion  of  1786. 

There  is  a  flash  of  fire  in  some  of  their  resolutions  of  that 
day  whose  heat  still  lingers  in  their  words —  as  when,  in  1779, 
while  the  money  credit  of  the  government  was  rapidly  falling, 
this  town  recommended  by  vote  to  all  who  had  money  to  loan 
to  lend  it  to  the  Continental  and  State  treasuries,  and  "  avoid 
lending  to  monopolizers.  Jobbers.  Harpies,  Porestallers,  sharp- 
ers and  Tories,  with  as  much  caution  as  they  avoid  a  pesti- 
lence." We  look  on  such  a  record  of  our  town  with  high  sat- 
isfaction. 

The  record  of  its  individual  citizens  is  no  less  commendable, 
as  will  appear  in  the  military  history.  But  we  must  leave  the 
camp  to  look  again  at  the  affairs  at  home. 


54  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

It  is  no  dul)ious  proof  of  tlie  pluck  of  our  fathers  that,  ere 
the  smoke  of  the  Revolutionary  War  had  liardly  rolled  away, 
they  set  about  building  a  new  meeting-house.  The  old  house 
had  stood  over  forty  years,  has  become  ragged  with  use,  and 
strait  for  the  increasing  population.  But  what  is  the  wisest 
to  do,  is  a  question  decided  first  this  way  and  then  that. 
One  point,  however,  must  be  settled  —  whether  the  center  of 
the  town  may  not  have  shifted  with  the  independence  of  the 
country  and  the  growth  of  its  inhabitants.  Two  surveyors 
and  three  chainmen  are,  therefore,  (in  January,  1784,)  set 
upon  this  old  problem  ;  who  find,  after  many  days  and  at  a  cost 
of  £26  3s.  4d.  (of  which  £1  12s.  lid.  are  for  "  Lickquer"), 
this  perplexing  center  of  Franklin  to  be  "  N.  W.  71°,  forty- 
seven  rods  from  the  center  of  the  west  door  of  the  meeting- 
house where  it  now  stands  ;"  which  lands  it  not  far  from  the 
same  Morse's  mud  ])oik1  as  fifty  years  before.  A  committee  is, 
therefore,  sent  out  to  jierambulatc  that  region  and  report  what 
they  shall  find  in  its  vicinity.  Tliey  negotiate  successfully  with 
Nathaniel  and  John  Adams  for  the  jiresent  Common  and  its 
approaches.  Another  committee  of  thirteen  present  plans  for 
a  new  meeting-house,  all  of  which  is  accepted  in  December, 
1787,  and  the  meeting-house  which  arose  out  of  so  many  votes 
and  counter  votes  was  completed  by  July,  1788,  at  a  final  cost 
of  £1,054  9s.  2d.  Iqr.  That  house  serv^ed  its  purpose  for  over 
fifty  years,  until,  in  1840,  it  suffered  a  removal  and  a  trans- 
formation. The  last  service  held  in  it  was  on  Monday,  Sept. 
28, 1840 ;  it  ))eing  the  funeral  of  the  ])astor.  Dr.  Emmons,  who 
was  ordained  in  this  town  sixty-seven  years  l)cfore.  The  next 
day  after  the  carpenters  began  their  work  of  alterations.  That 
transformation  was  before  the  day  of  photographs,  so  that  no 
picture  remains  of  our  old  meeting-house,  save  the  fading  re- 
membrance which  lingers  in  the  memory  of  a  few  of  us  boys 
and  girls  of  1840.  1  liave  attem]ited  to  re|>roduce  its  picture 
as  I  recollect  it,  which  the  reader  will  find  further  on. 

The  house  was  sixty  feet  by  forty-two,  with  a  porch  at  each 
end  fourteen  feet  square.     It  had   fifty-nine  pews  on  the  floor 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  55 

and  twciity-oiie  in  the  gallery,  besides  the  singers"  and  boys' 
seats.  The  present  Catholic  church  is  the  old  house  frame 
unaltered  in  size. 

But  what  picture  can  produce  its  interior  on  some  pleasant 
Sunday  morning  in  June!  Its  high  box  pulpit  and  impend- 
ing sounding  board,  hung  by  a  single  iron  rod,  an  inch  square  ; 
the  two  pegs  on  each  side  of  the  pulpit  window,  on  one  of 
which  sometimes  hangs  the  blue-black  cloak,  and  on  the  other 
always  the  three-cornered  clerical  hat :  by  no  means  omitting 
the  short,  lithe  preacher  in  the  pulpit,  with  clear  sharp  eye, 
bald  shining  head,  and  small  penetrating  voice,  and  manu- 
script gesture.  The  square  pews,  too,  seated  on  four  sides, 
with  a  drop  seat  across  the  narrow  door,  and  the  straight 
cushioned  chair  in  the  center  for  the  grandmother,  filled, 
every  one,  with  sedate  faces,  over  which  white  hairs  unusu- 
ally predominate  ;  and  the  long  seats  hemming  the  galleries, 
piled  with  hats  against  the  two  aisles,  which  a  puff  of  wind 
from  the  porch  entries  sometimes  sends  down  scattering  upon 
the  heads  below.  The  singers'  seats,  filling  the  front  gallery 
opposite  the  pulpit,  in  which  nothing  bigger  than  a  pitch-pipe 
for  years  dared  to  utter  a  note ;  and  the  boys'  seats  in  the 
southwest  elbow  of  the  gallery,  each  boy  with  one  eye  on  the 
tithing-man  in  the  opposite  corner,  while  the  other  eye  wan- 
ders or  sleeps,  and  both  ears  enviously  open  to  the  neighing 
of  the  horses  in  the  sheds  and  the  twitter  of  the  birds  in  the 
Lombardy  jioplars  near  by  1 

But  the  spirit  of  modern  reform  in  1840  demolished  every 
vestige  of  that  picture  and  carried  off  even  the  frame  of  the 
building  to  a  new  foundation.  As  a  result  of  that  demolition, 
the  top  of  the  old  sounding-board  lighted  upon  a  well-house 
in  Ashland,  the  breastwork  of  the  old  pulpit  landed  in  the 
lecture-room  of  the  Chicago  Theological  Seminary,  and  if  you 
would  once  again  listen  to  the  sound  of  the  same  old  bell 
which  called  your  grandfathers  and  grandmothers  to  meetings 
on  Sunday  and  lecture-days,  and  tolled  their  dcijarture  to  the 
grave,  you  can  hear  it  still  — or  could  —  ringing  out  as  clearly 


56  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

as  ever  in  the  Congregational  steeple  in  Paxton,  and  reputed 
as  the  most  musical  bell  in  Worcester  county. 

But  before  we  leave  the  old  meeting-house,  we  must  give 
one  word  to  the  Common  in  front  of  it.  It  was,  when  Ijought 
of  tlie  Adamses,  covered  Avith  pitch-pines.  While  the  meet- 
ing-house was  lieing  built,  in  1788,  Sanuiel  Lethljridgc  offei-ed 
to  clear  it  up  and  subdue  it  within  five  years,  for  one  penny  a 
poll  of  the  parish  and  time  to  raise  four  crops  upon  it  and 
dispose  of  the  stones  as  he  pleased.  A  different  bargain,  how- 
ever, was  made  witli  him  for  tliis  work,  for  in  1793  he  re- 
ceived .£5  14s.  3|d.  for  subduing  the  Common.  But  the 
conquest  was  so  far  incomplete  that  in  1797  another  bill  of 
$92.15  was  paid  for  blasting  powder,  plowing,  hay  seed,  victuals, 
and  drink,  from  which  deduct  -131.24:  credit  for  twenty  bush- 
els of  buckwheat,  hay,  and  stones,  and  you  have  $60.91  ex- 
pended in  completing  the  victory  over  Xatm-e. 

The  platoons  of  Lombardy  j)0|ilars  which  stood  guard  so 
erect  and  slim  oii  three  sides  of  the  Common,  and  which  fur- 
nished us  lioys  witli  whistles  on  election  days,  were  ])lantcd  by 
vote  of  tlie  town  Gtli  April,  1801,  by  William  Adams  •'  at  his 
discretion."  * 

No  town  lias  a  larger  or  finei'  plat  of  public  territory  for 
adornment,  and  in  no  town  would  a  public  parlc — tastefully 
set  witli  walks,  trees,  and  shrubbery,  as  this  might  be  —  add 
more  to  the  beauty  of  its  location.  The  local  society  for  its 
improvement  deserves,  as  I  presume  it  will  have,  the  cordial 
and  visible  co-operation  of  the  whole  town.  Our  Common 
should  become  a  museum  of  every  species  of  tree  indigenous 
to  the  hills  and  valleys  of  this  township, —  where  the  young 
can  study  the  characteristics  of  the  forest  while  they  talk  of 
the  centmy  to  come,  and  of  the  homes  wliich  they  hope  to 
build  in  the  hereafter. 

But  my  hour  is  over,  and  a  score  of  ])erliaps  more  interest- 
ing topics  must  Ije  relegated  to  the  printed  history  in  process 
of  immediate  preparation. 


*  See  ils  further  liistory  in  the  Addenda. 


HISTORICAL   ADDRESS.  57 

The  uprise  of  other  churclies  and  religious  societies  in  this 
once  single  precinct  —  of  which  there  now  are  at  least  six  in 
vigorous  operation  ;  the  industrial  enterprises  —  from  the 
saw-mill  on  Mine  brook,  laid  out  in  1698,  now  the  site  of  one 
of  the  Rays'  numerous  felting  mills  ;  the  humble  straw  begin- 
nings of  Major  Thayer,  in  1800,  to  the  present  varied  and  ex- 
tensive manufactories  of  the  town ;  the  names  and  deeds  of 
the  veterans  of  the  Revolution,  and  of  the  no  less  prompt 
volunteers  to  suppress  the  rebellion  of  1861  ;  the  schools, 
and  especially  the  honorable  list  of  college  graduates,  the  pro- 
fessional men  and  eminent  citizens,  native  or  resident  —  not 
forgetting  the  distinguished  women,  not  a  few  —  who  have 
marked  their  day  here  or  elsewhere  ;  of  whom,  as  of  Prof. 
Alexander  M.  Fisher  of  Yale,  Judge  Theron  Metcalf,  and 
Hon.  Horace  Mann,  this  town  may  well  be  proud,  as  her 
own  native  born  • —  not  forgetting  tlie  old  Academy  of 
1835-40,  whose  memory  shines  yet  as  a  bright  morning  in  at 
least  one  soul ;  these  and  other  kindred  themes  must  wait 
their  opportunity.  And  not  less  the  hundred  and  one  other 
apparently  little  things  which,  nevertheless,  give  foliage  and 
fragrance  to  history,  as  amongst  the  really  developing  forces 
of  society. 

I  have  simply  culled  a  few  of  the  taller  stalks  from  the 
harvest-field  of  a  hundred  years,  to  make  a  boquet  for  your 
centennial  table  to-day.  It  is  a  specimen  only  out  of  the 
years  from  which  others  might  have  gathered  a  much  richer 
handful.  But  to  me  the  culling  has  been  among  familiar 
aci"es,  and  the  work  has  been  a  labor  of  love.  As  such,  I  beg 
to  lay  it  before  you  to-day,  with  the  hope  that  you  will  excuse 
the  omission  of  your  favorite  flowers,  and  accept  it  as  my 
offering  to  the  old  town  which  has  always  rendered  me  far 
more  honor  than  I  feel  myself  to  be  worthy  of. 

May  the  patriotism,  the  steadfast  integrity,  the  intelligence, 
and  the  harmony  which  beautify  the  history  of  the  past  cen- 
tury of  this  town,  shine  on  clearer  and  purer  into  the  coming 
centuries,  as  far  and  as  long  as  the  name  of  Franklin,  Mass., 
can  be  read ! 


ADDENDA. 


ADDENDA. 


The  many  matters  of  topogi-aphy,  civil,  ecclesiastical,  educa- 
tional, industrial,  and  military  history,  which  could  not  properly 
have  mention  iu  the  public  address  —  valuable  documents,  statis- 
tics, etc.,  are  here  contained  in  some  order  of  arrangement  under 
their  appropriate  heads. 

I.       TOPOGUAPIIY. 

The  town  of  Franklin,  whose  general  liistory  is  given  in  the 
preceding  address,  lies  in  the  southwestern  part  of  Norfolk  county, 
Mass.,  and  is  southwesterly  from  Boston  twenty-seven  and  one- 
quarter  miles  by  the  New  York  and  New  England  Railroad.  It 
contained  within  its  original  limits,  as  measured  bj'  the  survey  of 
1832,  17,602+  acres,  or  27.6  square  miles.  In  1870  the  north- 
eastern portion  of  the  town  was  set  off  to  the  new  town  of  Nor- 
folk, formerlj-  North  "Wrentham.  This  area  included  about  1,653 
acres,  leaving  some  1.5,949  acres  as  the  present  extent  of  Frank- 
lin. It  has  the  rolling,  hilly  surface  which  belongs  to  the  Sj'enitic 
formation  of  eastern  Massachusetts,  and  affords  manj'  beautiful 
views.  From  some  of  its  elevated  highways  the  Blue  hills  of 
Milton  are  visible,  aud  from  others  can  be  seen  Mount  Wachuset 
in  Princeton.  It  is  one  of  the  highest  towns  in  the  county,  its 
central  depot  being  on  the  summit  of  the  New  York  and  New 
England  Railroad,  and  is  one  of  the  most  healthful  towns  in  the 
Commonwealth.  It  has  several  ponds  —  Beaver,  Uncas,  Popolatic, 
and  Kingsburj's  being  the  largest  —  whose  overflow  ultimately 
reaches  the  Charles  river  and  Massachusetts  l)ay.  through  Mine 
brook,  and  Stop,  or  Mill,  ri\'er. 

The  elevation  of  the  town,  the  general  beauty  of  its  scenery, 
and  its  railroad  facilities  —  to  say  nothing  of  its  social  advantages 


62  HISTORY    OP    FRANKLIN. 

—  are  rapidlj'  attracting  attention  to  it  as  a  summer  resort  or  a 
country  home.  The  many  other  facts  which  constitute  and  de- 
termine its  desirableness  as  a  place  of  residence  or  of  business, 
will  find  a  place  under  their  appropriate  heads  in  this  supplemen- 
tary histor}'. 

n.     civil,   HISTORY. 

The  main  facts  of  our  interior  life  are  contained  in  the  histori- 
cal address.  Upon  the  subsidence  of  the  war  for  liberty,  society 
rapidly  assumed  its  normal  state  and  began  its  normal  develop- 
ment. Little  has  occurred  in  the  history  proper  of  the  town  de- 
manding especial  mention.  The  regular  town  meetings  were  held, 
at  which  the  necessaiy  officers  were  chosen,  of  whom  a  list  is 
given  at  the  end.  and  the  necessary  expenses  of  the  town  were 
provided  for. 

Being  mostly  a  farming  community,  the  population  increased 
very  slowly-.  At  the  date  of  incorporation  it  was  less  than  1,100. 
Its  census,  at  the  several  dates  computed,  has  been — in  1790, 
1,101  ;  in  1800,  1,255  ;  in  1810,  1,398  ;  in  1820,  1,630  ;  in  1830, 
1,662  ;  in  1840,  1,717  ;  in  1850,  1,818  ;  in  1855,  2,044  ;  in  18i;0, 
2,172  ;  in  1865,  2,510  ;  in  1870,  2,512  ;  and  in  1875,  2,983. 

As  the  boundaries  of  the  parish  were  territorially  coincident 
with  those  of  the  town,  the  interests  of  the  two  were  substantially 
one,  and  both  interests  were  often  acted  upon  in  the  same  meet- 
ing. Hence  the  records  do  not  discriminate  between  doings 
strictly  civil  and  properlj-  ecclesiastical.  But  by  a  statute  of  1803, 
it  was  declared  that  such  transaction  of  parochial  business  in  open 
town  meeting  vitiated  the  proceedings,  and  a  committee  was 
chosen  at  the  March  meeting  of  1804  to  petition  the  General 
Court  to  ratify  all  past  acts  of  town  and  parish,  and  to  incorpor- 
ate the  latter  as  •'  the  First  Congregational  parish  in  the  town  of 
Franklin."  Up  to  this  date,  therefore,  are  selected  such  acts 
from  either  precinct  or  town  records  as  have  interest  for  preserva- 
ISion  and  have  not  been  already  quoted  in  the  general  histor}-. 

The  first  wan-ant  for  organizing  the  precinct  was  issued  by 
Jonathan  "Ware,  justice  of  the  peace,  to  Robert  Pond,  Daniel 
Hawes,  David  Jones,  Daniel  Thurston,  and  John  Adams,  "  to  meet 
at  the  house  the  inhabitants  of  sd  precinct  usually  meet  in  for  puli- 
lic  worship,"  Monday,  16th  of  January,  at  10  o'clock,  1 738.     Meas- 


ADDENDA.  63 

ures  were  immediately  talien  for  selecting  a  site  and  erecting  a 
meeting-house,  and  for  procuring  a  minister.  The  church,  being 
present,  acted  jointlj'  with  the  precinct  iu  these  ecclesiastical  mat- 
ters. The  salary  proposed  was  six  score  pounds,  old  tenor,  to  rise 
and  fall  with  the  value  of  money,  and  a  settlement  of  £200  ;  or, 
if  prefeiTcd,  £G0  and  the  two  parcels  of  land,  containing  sixty 
acres,  granted  by  Wrentham  at  a  proprietors'  meeting  18th 
April,  1721,  "whenever  they  be  legally  set  ott'."  Another  £100 
was.  in  Jul}',  added  to  bu}'  woodland  for  the  ministerial  fires. 
The  deed  of  an  acre  of  land  from  Thomas  Man  for  a  meeting- 
house lot  was  accepted  11th  September,  1739,  and  put  for  safe 
keeping  into  the  care  of  Simon  Slocum. 

On  account  of  the  high  price  of  provisions,  the  precinct  voti'd, 
22d- December,  1742,  a  contribution,  to  be  taken  on  the  last  Sab- 
bath of  each  month  for  four  months,  for  the  relief  of  the  minister. 

In  1762,  when  religious  dift'erences  began  to  make  votes  im- 
portant, the  right  of  franchise  was  by  vote  limited  ' '  to  such  as 
have  a  freehold  in  house  and  land  lying  within  the  precinct.' 
The  same  differences  occasioned  frequent  and  sometimes  long 
meetings;  and  it  was  ordered,  14th  March,  1763,  to  put  upon 
' '  the  acre  "  a  white  pine  stick  for  a  trough  and  painted,  proba- 
bly for  the  use  of  horses  who  had  no  interest  in  awaiting  the  long 
discussions  of  parish  affairs.  It  was  somewhat  of  a  trough,  cost- 
ing 44s.  How  it  was  filled  with  water  no  record  reveals.  Per- 
haps the  sexton,  who  had  15s.  for  sweeping  the  meeting-house  and 
"  taking  care  of  the  chosen"  (things),  needed  no  instructions. 

For  many  years  discussions  and  perambulations  of  town  boun- 
daries and  laying  out  roads  constituted  the  chief  business  of  the 
town  meetings.  But  the  location  of  roads  by  marked  trees,  cor- 
ners of  farms,  etc.,  renders  their  present  description  useless. 
Guide-posts  are  not  mentioned  until  1795,  March  23,  when  the 
selectmen  are  directed  to  erect  them  according  to  law.  The 
records  show  that  all  minor  matters  of  town  thrift  were  properly 
looked  after. 

III.      BtlRYING-GROUNDS. 

Two  had  been  provided  at  the  beginning  of  the  settlement  by 
grants  of  land  from  the  propiietors  ;  one  for  the  convenience  6f  the 
settlers  around  Stop  river,  and  another  for  those  who  migrated  from 


64  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

Wrentham.  These  yards  appear  to  have  lain  open  and  uncared 
for  until  1768,  when  the  precinct  appointed  a  committee  for  each 
burial  place,  to  clear  up  and  fence  them  with  good  stone  walls. 
In  1793,  committees  are  appointed  to  again  clear  them,  repair  the 
fences,  appoint  sextons,  and  fix  the  fees  for  interment.  In  1808, 
the  south  (central)  burjdng-ground  was  enlarged  by  an  addition 
of  ninety-eight  rods,  bought  of  Simeon  Partridge  and  an  enclosing 
two-rail  fence  with  sawed  posts  was  ordered.  These  same  ceme- 
teries, with  subsequent  enlargements,  are  now  in  use,  and  the  chil- 
dren are  laid  where 

"  The  forefathers  of  the  li.amlet  slept." 

A  hearse  was  purchased  bj'  the  town  in  May,  1803,  and  rules 
were  adoi)ted  regulating  its  use.  This  black  and  somber  vehicle 
was  used  until  the  purchase  of  a  new  one  b^-  the  town  in  April, 
1837,  which  latter  was  supplanted  by  another  in  1853.  The  taste 
and  requirements  of  the  community  led,  in  1860,  to  the  formation 
of  the  Franklin  Cemetery-  Association,  which  purchased  and  laid 
out  several  acres  on  the  west  side  and  adjoining  the  Central  bury- 
ing-ground.  The  town  added  six  acres  to  its  own  yard,  and  the 
t«o  cemeteries  are  now  practically  one.  In  1867,  Saul  B.  Scott 
gave  land  for  an  enlargement  of  the  City  Mills  Cemetery.  In 
1864,  J.  L.  Fitzpatricic  and  eleven  others  organized  and  secured  a 
burial-ground  called  the  Catholic  Cemetery,  of  which  the  town  ap- 
proved by  vote,  November  8. 

It  seems  a  proper  place  here  to  give  a  few  facts  about  the 

EMMONS    MONUMENT. 

While  W.  M.  Thayer  was  a  member  of  Brown  University,  Dr. 
Wayland,  the  Pntsident,  suggested  to  him  in  a  private  conversa- 
tion, that  Dr.  Emmons  deserved  a  more  public  moiuiment  than 
the  village  cemetery  could  afford,  and  that  his  many  friends  out  of 
tovni  were  anxious  to  express  in  some  permanent  form  their  ap- 
preciation of  his  valuable  labors  for  truth.  The  idea  received  a 
cordial  response  from  the  people  of  Franklin,  and  steps  taken  to 
realize  it  in  stone. 

A  meeting  was  called  and  the  Emmons  Monument  Association 
was  ultimately  organized,  5th  March,  1844.  The  constitution, 
Adopted  23d  March,  defined  its  sole  object  to  be  to  erect  a  suita- 


ADDENDA.  65 

ble  monument  to  the  memory  of  Nathanael  Emmons,  D.  D.,  and 
that  it  shall  be  "  erected  on  or  near  the  spot  where  the  old  meet- 
ing-house stood  —  that  spot,  hallowed  bj-  bis  faithful  labors  of 
more  than  half  a  century,  and  that  house  where  his  voice  was 
heard  at  its  dedication,  and  in  which  the  last  services  performed 
were  his  funeral  solemnities."  This  article  is  made  unalterable, 
except  by  unanimous  vote  of  the  Association.  To  this  constitu- 
tion twenty-seven  names  of  citizens  were  attached.  In  accord- 
ance with  its  provisions,  a  committee  of  three  was  chosen  to  select 
the  precise  site  for  a  monument,  and  other  committees  necessary 
to  secure  funds,  etc.  The  first  committee,  Rev.  Drs.  Wayland 
of  Providence,  Codman  of  Dorchester,  and  Burgess  of  Ded- 
ham,  after  viewing  the  available  locations,  reported  that  the 
' '  monument  be  erected  on  the  public  ground  in  front  of  the  church, 
if  this  can  be  permanently  secured  for  the  public,  and  the  ground 
be  properly  graded,  ornamented  and  enclosed.  The  reasons  for 
this  preference  over  the  burying-ground  are,  that  there  is  no  room 
for  such  a  monument  in  the  latter  place,  and  that,  inasmuch  as 
this  is  not  strictly  a  personal  memorial,  but  rather  a  public  testi- 
monial of  the  esteem  in  which  his  life-work  and  labors  were  held 
by  his  townsmen  and  friends,  the  most  central  situation  and  the 
most  frequented,  seems  to  us  the  most  appropriate  place." 

The  report  was  adopted  and  subscriptions  immediately  opened. 
Responses  came  from  even  distant  towns,  whose  names  there  is 
not  room  to  give;  and  June  17,  1846,  a  granite  monument  was 
erected  with  public  services,  near  the  center  of  the  Common, 
across  which  the  venerated  pastor  had  traveled  to  and  fro  for  over 
half  a  century.  A  large  company  gathered  in  the  church,  where 
an  address  was  given  by  Rev.  M.  Blake,  and  then  adjourned  to 
the  Common  in  front,  where  the  dedicatory  address  was  made  by 
Rev.  T.  D.  Southworth,  then  pastor  of  the  church. 

This  monument  remained  a  central  and  often  visited  object,  un- 
til a  new  and  inexplicable  impulse  moved  it  into  the  new  part  of 
the  cemeterj-  and  out  of  public  sight ;  contrar}-  to  the  unalterable 
provision  of  the  society  which  located  and  erected  it. 

IV.       THE  COMMON 

was  purchased  of  Nathaniel  and  John  Adams  in   1787.     Unlike 
most  towns,  the  proprietors  of  this  town  seem  to  have  donated  na 

6 


66  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

tract  of  land  for  a  Common  or  training  field.  When  the  first 
meeting-liouse  became  anti(iiiatod  and  contracted,  the  question  of 
a  new  sanctuarj'  raised  also  that  of  a  larger  and  better  site  than; 
"  the  acre  "  given  by  Thomas  Man.  As  soon,  therefore,  as  a  new 
house  was  decided  upon,  a  committee  was  chosen  3d  December, 
1787,  to  negotiate  with  .lohii  Adams  for  the  purchase  of  "  the  34- 
rod  spot."     On  the  17th  following  they  reported  :  — 

We  have  agreed  with  Mr.  John  Adams  for  the  wedge  of  land 
Ijang  between  the  way  from  the  meeting-house  leading  to  the  Rev. 
Nathanael  P^mmons  and  the  waj'  from  the  said  meeting-house  to 
Ens.  John  Adams,  being  nine  acres,  at  £1  10s.  per  acre  :  also,  38 
rod. of  land  west  of  said  way  at  the  same  rate  ;  also  1^  acres  in 
the  hollow  south  of  the  old  meeting-house  at  £3.  And  of  Nathan- 
iel Adams  140  rods  of  land  east  of  the  waj'  from  said  meeting- 
house leading  to  Mr.  Emmons,  at  the  rate  of  £1  10s.  per  acre. 
Also  a  road  three  rods  wide  through  his  improved  land,  beginning 
at  the  road  from  .lolui  Adams,  Jr.,  to  go  a  straight  course  between 
his  house  and  well  to  the  land  above  mentioned.  For  which  he  is 
to  receive  as  a  satisfaction  £8  in  money  and  the  acre  of  land 
whereon  the  meeting-house  now  stands,  with  the  road  that  is  now 
wanted,  in  by  his  house,  to  said  acre. 

The  bargain  was  sanctioned,  and  in  December,  1789,  the  towui 
voted  to  buy  the  piece  ol'  land  north  of  the  new  meeting-house, 
once  bought  of  Nathaniel  Adams  by  John  Richardson,  to  make 
the  Common  more  convenient,  at  Gd.  per  rod,  containing  59^  rods. 
This  addition  was  balanced  by  the  sale  to  Nathaniel  Adams  of  a 
small  piece  of  shrub  land  lying  on  a  side-hill  south  of  the  old 
meeting-house.  In  October,  1790,  the  plan  of  the  Common  thus- 
constructed  was  accepted,  and  certain  old  roads  now  useless  were 
discontinued.  A  new  road  was  opened  from  Abijah  Thurston's 
through  the  land  of  John  Adams  to  the  new  meeting-house,  and 
Adams  was  directed  to  "  clear  up  the  part  of  his  land  west  of  the 
road  leading  from  his  house  to  the  meeting-house  for  the  safety  of 
said  house." 

In  subsequent  years  the  ownership  of  the  Common  was  a  mat- 
ter of  frequent  discussion  between  town  and  parish.  But  so  far 
as  appears,  all  after  improvements  upon  it  were  made  by  private 
subscriptions  ;  and  the  fact  of  a  movement  to  have  the  town  pur- 
chase the  Common  of  the  parish,  indicates  decidedly  to  what  con- 
clusion the  town  arrived.     But  the  movement  failed  of  a  vote. 


Wrenthama'^''  Franklin. 

♦  o  ♦ 

Fie/iroc/ucec/  on s  uniform  sca/i^  jf  jzo  roc/s/ier  /f?c^ 
/"rorn  -the  o/c//m>/ix  ofl4're/i-iharn(i'j3.f)anclf're>nklin 


ADDENDA.  67 

when  a  committee  of  the  town  recommended  its  purchase  for 
$3,000.  The  improvement  of  the  Common,  by  planting  shade 
trees,  laying  out  walks,  etc.,  is  in  the  hands  of  a  voluntarj'  associ- 
ation at  the  present  time. 

V.        MAI'S    OF    THK    TOWN. 

The  earliest  known  map  of  the  territory  of  Franklin  is  in  the 
town  oflice  of  Wrentham.  It  is  entitled,  "A  Plan  of  the  Town  of 
Wrentham.  Shewing  the  Figure  and  Bounds  thereof.  Particu- 
larly' of  the  Westerlj-  Bound  and  Marks  the  Scituation  of  the 
Ponds,  first  House  Lotts  shewn  by  Jus'.  Ware,  Eben"' Fisher  and 
others.     —    —    —    —    May  1735  pr  Sam'  Brooks 

Surv^" 

This  map  contains  inside  its  boundaries  only  the  two  ponds,  two 
or  three  short  streets  and  the  location  and  names  of  the  first  set- 
tlers. The  outUne  of  the  West  Precinct  is  dotted  within  it,  evi- 
dently at  a  later  date,  and  is  almost  exactly  coincident  with  the 
present  boundaries  of  Franklin. 

An  exact  l>ut  reduced  fac-simile  of  this  ancient  map  and  its 
contents  is  given  in  the  accompanjing  drawing.  The  original  is 
on  a  scale  of  fortj'  chains  to  the  inch. 

A  map  of  more  interest  to  us  is  in  the  archives  of  the  State 
House  at  Boston.  It  is  from  surveys  made  by  Amos  Hawes  and 
Moses  Fisher  in  September,  October,  and  November,  1794,  and 
is  dated  27th  May,  1795.  The  subscript  saj's  "There  is  about 
17,602  acres  in  said  town  and  that  there  are  four  Ponds  which 
contain  20  acres  and  a  half  as  laid  down  on  the  Plan.  The  roads 
in  said  Franklin  are  58f  miles  in  length  and  two  rods  in  Breadth 
and  contain  221  acres  and  one-quarter.  Charles  River  on  the 
North  is  about  5  rods  in  width  and  Mine  Brook  about  one  rod. 
The  Centre  of  said  Town  is  Thirtj'  Miles  from  Boston  the  Capital 
of  the  State  and  Nineteen  Miles  from  Dedham  the  Shire  Town  of 
the  County."  A  reduced  fac-simile  of  this  map  is  inserted  within 
the  map  of  Wrentham  and  enclosed  within  the  dotted  lines. 

In  1795,  November  2,  the  selectmen  were  directed  to  "  procure 
a  plan  of  the  town  drawed  on  Parchment  100  rods  to  an  inch,  dehn- 
eating  the  roads.  Ponds,  Streams,  Houses,  and  Mills,  specifj'ing 
the  distance  of  every  house  from  the  meeting-house  in  sd  town, 
the  distance  of  the  Town  from  the  Shii-etown  of  the  County,  the 


68  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

distance  from  the  Capital  of  the  state,  the  quantity  of  land  in  sd 
town,  the  surface  of  water  contained  in  the  ponds,  and  the  quan- 
tity of  laud  contained  in  the  roads.  Said  plan  to  be  the  property 
of  the  town,  to  be  lodged  in  the  town  clerk's  office."  No  such 
map  is  now  discoverable  in  the  town  office  or  elsewhere,  unless 
that  in  the  State  House  be  the  one  intended. 

In  1830,  the  State  Legislature  passed  an  act  requiring  the  towns 
to  make  a  survey  of  their  territor}-.  This  town  responded  with  a 
map,  surveyed  by  John  G.  Hales,  and  lithographed,  of  which  the 
town  bought  200  copies  at  cost,  to  be  resold  at  forty-two  cents 
apiece.  These  went  off  slowl}',  and  in  1837  the  town  voted  to 
sell  the  balance  at  auction.  Copies  of  this  map  of  1832  are  still 
somewhat  plenty.  iS'o  survey  of  the  town  has  since  been  made 
at  the  town's  expense.  The  maps  in  the  atlas  of  Norfolk  county, 
of  1870,  were  issued  by  subseriptiou  of  individuals,  the  town  vot- 
ing, 4th  March,  1874,  to  buy  a  copy  of  the  atlas  at  half  price  for 
the  several  public  schools.  Whether  the  schools  now  have  a  copy, 
the  school  committee  can  probably  tell. 

VI.       VOT»:S    ON    CIVIL    MATTERS. 

The  action  of  the  town  as  a  corporation  is  rather  indicated  by 
its  general  drift  than  by  its  specific  votes.  But  its  political  sym- 
pathies are  shown  in  its  instructions  at  different  times  to  its  repre- 
sentatives —  many  of  which  are  decisive  enough  —  and  in  its 
majorities  for  State  and  National  officers.  Some  votes  on  particu- 
lar questions  have,  therefore,  a  value  in  the  town's  history. 

In  1778,  a  new  State  constitution  was  submitted  to  the  people. 
A  special  committee,  of  which  the  minister  was  chaii-man,  was 
chosen  to  examine  it,  whose  report  and  subsequent  discussion  led 
to  a  non-approval  of  the  instrument.  The  Concord  Convention  of 
17th  July,  1779,  was  highly-  approved  of  "  as  calculated  to  answer 
the  great  purpose  of  appreciating  our  paper  currenc3',"  and  the 
prices  of  commodities  as  then  recommended  were  adopted.  The 
vote  for  the  State  constitution  of  1780  was  105.  The  revised 
constitution  of  1820  experienced  a  curious  reception,  decidedly 
indicative  of  the  independent  thinking  and  acting  of  the  voters. 
The  fourteen  articles  passed  as  follows  :  — 


ADDENDA.  69 

Article  1 20  yeas,     126  nays.  I  Article    8 133  yeas,  15  nays. 

Article  2 0  yeas,     146  nays,  i  Article    9 tH  yeas,  6  nays. 

Article  3 Ki6  yeas,        7  n.iys.  |  Article  10 1  yea,  120  nays. 

Article  4 126  yeas,      21  nays.  I  Article  11 100  yeas,  5  nays. 


Article  5 71  yeas,      67  nays. 

Article  6 2  yeas,     138  nays. 

Article  7 128  yea-s,        6  nays. 


Article  12 1  yea,        97  nays. 

Article  13 104  yeas,        0  nays. 

Article  14 8  yeas,     101  nays. 


The  amendments  of  1833,  183G,  and  1840  were  passed  almost 
without  opposition.  Subsequent  votes  of  the  town  on  later 
amendments  indicate  the  same  independent  and  intelligent  judg- 
ment. The  revised  constitution  of  1853  was  rejected  on  three  of 
its  eight  general  divisions. 

VU.       THE    PUBLIC    POOR. 

At  the  incorporation  of  the  town  there  were  only  five  paupers 
in  the  whole  area  of  AVrentham,  two  of  whom  fell  to  Franklin, 
and  the  thrift  of  the  people  was  such  that  for  many  j'ears  no 
mention  is  made  in  the  records  of  any  need  of  public  provision 
for  the  poor.  In  1799,  regulations  were  adopted  bj-  the  town  for 
their  care.  As  the  custom  then  was,  they  were  put  out  to  the 
lowest  bidder ;  but  tlie  successful  bidder  must  be  approved  by 
the  selectmen  and  held  strictl}'  to  furnish  all  comforts  except 
clothes  and  medicine,  which  were  supplied  by  the  town,  and  to 
remove  the  poor  elsewhere  at  his  own  expense,  on  any  complaint 
approved  by  the  selectmen.  At  this  date  there  were  only  five  to 
be  so  disposed  of. 

In  1835,  the  dwelling-house  and  fiirm  were  purchased  of  Mr. 
AlpheUs  Adams,  for  an  almshouse,  at  a  cost  of  $3,000.  It  contains 
125  acres,  a  two-story  dwelling-house,  40x32  feet,  a  barn  50x26 
feet,  and  other  smaller  buildings.  Since  1835,  the  number  of  its 
inmates  has  not  at  any  time  exceeded  twelve. 

In  1868  the  almshouse  was  burned,  and  the  following  April  the 
town  voted  to  build  another  twenty  rods  farther  east.  This  new 
building  is  now  in  use. 

VIII.        PUBLIC    LIBRARY. 

What  is  now  regarded  as  a  town  necessit}'  had  hardly  an  exist- 
ence outside  of  colleges  a  hundred  yeavs  ago.  Franklin  was 
blessed  with  the  donation  of  a  libraiy  before  it  was  ten  years  old, 
which  became  the  foundation  for  its  present  respectable  collection 
of  books. 


70  HISTORY   OF   FRANKLIN. 

The  tradition  is  current  that  Dr.  Franklin  gave  a  library  in- 
stead of  a  bell  as  had  been  suggested  to  him,  because  he  believed 
such  a  people  must  prefer  se?i,se  to  sound.  But  a  diligent  search 
has  found  no  veriflcation  of  this  very  probable,  characteristic  and 
appropriate  remark.  But  there  is  a  letter  of  value,  the  original 
■of  which  is  in  the  collections  of  the  Maine  Historical  Society  at 
Brunswick,  and  a  copy  of  which  the  secretary.  Prof.  A.  S.  Pack- 
:ard,  has  kindly  furnished  :  — 

Passy,  April  13,  178.5. 

Dear  Cousin  :  I  received  your  letter  of  Decern''  16  relating  to 
Jonas  Ilartwell.  I  had  before  written  to  our  Minister  at  Madrid, 
Mr.  Carmichael,  requesting  him  to  apply  for  the  Release  of  that 
Man.  Inclosed  I  send  His  answer,  with  Copies  of  other  Papers 
relating  to  the  Afiair.  The  Simpleton  will  be  discharged,  perhaps 
after  being  a  little  whipt  for  his  Folly,  &  that  maj'  not  be  amiss. 
We  have  here  another  New  England  man,  Th.iyer,  formerly  a  can- 
didate for  the  INIinistr}-,  who  converted  himself  lately  at  Rome, 
&  is  now  preparing  to  return  home,  for  the  purpose  of  convert- 
ing his  Countrjinen.  Our  ancestors  from  Catholics  became  first, 
Church  of  England  men,  &  then,  refined  into  Presbyterians. 
To  change  now  from  Presljj'terianism  to  Popery,  seems  to  ine  re- 
fining backwards,  from  white  sugar  to  brown. 

I  have  written  to  Dr.  Price  of  London,  requesting  him  to  make 
a  choice  of  proper  Books  to  commence  a  Lil)rary  for  the  use  of 
the  Inhabitants  of  Franklin.  They  will  lie  sent  directly  from 
thence.         *         •         «         Your  atfectionate  uncle, 

B.  Franklin. 

Jona.  Williams,  Esq. 

This  Dr.  Price  was  Rev.  Richard  Price,  a  close  friend  of  Dr. 
Franklin's,  who  published  several  strong  pamphlets  in  advocacy  of 
the  American  cause  of  liberty,  and  whom  our  Congress  invited  to 
become  a  citizen  and  aid  in  the  financial  a ft'airs  of  the  government, 
an  invitation  wliich  he  politel3'  declined. 

It  is  interesting  to  study  his  idea  of  a  proper  library  for  a  young 
Massachusetts  town  ;  and  a  copy  of  the  original  catalogue  (printed 
1786)  is  given  as  a  guide  thereto  :  — 

Clark's  Works,  4  vols.,  folio.  Montesnuien's  Spirit  of  Laws,  2  vols. 

Hoadley's  "Works,  ^i  vols.,  folio.  Blackstone's  Commentaries,  4  vols. 

Barrows'  Works,  '2  vols.,  folio.  Watson's  Tracts,  6  vols. 

Ridgeley's  Works,  2  vols.,  folio.  Newton  on  the  Prophesies,  3  vols. 

Locke's  Works,  4  vols.,  octavo.  Law  on  Religion,  1  vol. 

Sydney's  Works,  1  vol.,  octavo.  Priestley's  Institutes,  2  vols. 


ADDENDA. 


71 


Priestley's  Corruptions,  2  vols. 
Price  and  Priestley,  1  vol. 
Lyndsey's  Apology  and  Sequel,  2  vols. 
Abernethy's  Sermons,  2  vols. 
Duchal's  Sermons,  3  vols. 
Price's  Morals,  1  vol. 
Price  on  Providence,  1  vol. 
Price  on  Liberty,  1  vol. 
Price  on  the  Christian  Scheme,  1  vol. 
Price's  Sermons,  1  vol. 
Needham's  Free  State,  1  vol. 
West  and  Littleton  on  the  Resurrec- 
tion, 1  vol. 
Stennet's  Sermons,  2  vols. 
Addison's  Evidences,  1  vol. 
■Gordon's  Tacitus,  5  vols. 
Backus'  History,  1  vol. 
Lardner  on  the  Logus,  1  vol.,  8vo. 
Watts'  Orthodoxy  and  Charity,  1  vol. 
Brainerd's  Life,  1  vol. 
Bellamy's  True  Keligion,  1  vol. 
Doddridge's  Life,  1  vol. 
Bellamy's  Permi.ssion  of  Sin,  1  vol, 
Fordyce's  Sermons,  1  vol. 
Hemminway  against  Hopkins,  1  vol. 
Hopkins  on  Holness,  1  vol. 
Life  of  Cromwell,  1  vol. 
Fulfilling  the  Scriptures,  1  vol. 


Watts  on  the  Pas.sions,  1  vol. 
Watts'  Logic,  1  vol. 
Edwards  on  Religion,  1  vol. 
Dickinson  on  the  Five  Points,  1  vol. 
Christian  History,  2  vols. 
Prideaux's  Connections,  4  vols. 
Cooper  on  Predestination,  1  vol. 
Cambridge  Platform,  1  vol. 
Stoddard's  Safety  of  Appearing,  1  vol. 
Burkett  on  Personal  Reformation,  1  v. 
Barnard's  Sermons,  1  vol. 
Shepard's  Sound  Believer,  1  vol. 
History  of  the  Rebellion,  1  vol. 
Janeway's  Life,  1  vol. 
Hopkin's  System,  2  vols. 
American  Preacher,  4  vols. 
Emmons'  Sermons,  1  vol. 
Thomas'  Laws  of  Massachusetts,  1  vol. 
American  Constitutions,  1  vol. 
Young's  Niglit  Thoughts,  1  vol. 
Pilgrim's  Progress,  1  vol. 
Ames'  Oration,  1  vol. 
Spectators,  S  vols. 
Life  of  Baron  Trenk,  1  vol. 
Cheap  Repository,  2  vols. 
Moral  Repository,  1  vol. 
Fitch's  Poem,  1  vol. 
Erskine's  Sermons,  1  vol. 


A  few  of  the  smiiUer  ones  must  have  been  added  from  this  side 
the  water.  A  private  librarj-  of  125  vohimes  for  the  use  of  the 
shareholders  was  added  to  the  Franklin  gift  soon  aftei-wards. 
These  books  were  equally  substantial.  Still,  in  the  dearth  of 
reading  of  that  time,  even  a  folio  of  sermons  was  not  unattractive, 
as  tlie  present  writer  can  testifj'. 

The  town  had  some  difficidty  in  deciding  by  whom  the  Library 
might  be  used.  At  first  it  was  limited  to  members  of  the  parish. 
In  November,  1788,  the  books  were  opened  to  the  whole  town. 
In  Jime,  1789,  Mr.  Emmons  is  directed  by  the  town  to  lend  out 
the  books  "  according  to  the  directions  in  the  letter  accompanj'- 
ing  said  library."  Bat  that  letter  lias  disappeared.  In  1790 
they  are  opened  "  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  at  large  until  the 
town  sliall  order  otherwise."  And  so  the  matter  has  remained 
•imto  tlie  present  day.  The  Congregational  pastor  has  been  the 
■custodian,  and  sometimes  for  j'ears  uncalled  upon  to  deliver  a 
book  out  of  the  antiquated  collection.     A  committee  was  chosen 


72  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

in  March,  1840,  to  look  after  the  neglected  donation,  which  they 
found  stowed  away  in  its  venerable  book-case  in  a  barn.  The 
ultimate  result  of  this  and  another  investigation  in  1856,  was  the 
forming  of  a  Library  Association,  to  which  the  town  by  vote  com- 
mitted the  care  of  the  old  Franklin  and  Social  libraries.  These 
are  now  together,  and  form  a  nucleus  for  annual  additions,  towards- 
which  the  town  appropriates  "the  dog  money"  and  $400  per 
annum. 

From  Libraries  we  pass  naturally  to 

IX.       PUBLIC    SCHOOLS. 

Before  this  precinct  was  incorporated,  in  the  winter  of  1734-5, 
the  first  preaclier  sent  amongst  its  few  people  was  directed  also  t» 
teach  school  for  four  months  ;  and  this  arrangement  was  continued 
by  the  town  of  Wrentham,  emplo3-ing  different  persons,  until  the 
precinct  assumed  the  management  of  its  own  affairs. 

As  early  as  June,  1G85,  Wrentham  set  apart  a  lot  of  twenty  tO' 
twent}--five  acres  for  the  support  of  schools.  In  March,  1695,  a 
school-house  was  voted,  sixteen  feet  square  besides  the  chimney, 
and  in  the  failure  of  a  teacher,  the  selectmen  kept  the  school  one 
week  each  in  turn.  Among  the  earliest  school  teachers  were 
Theodore  Man  and  John  Fales.  In  1718  four  separate  schools  are 
ordered,  one  at  each  cardinal  point  of  the  town.  In  1728  the  old 
Wrentham  school-house  of  16'J5  is  sold  at  auction.  Feb.  11, 
1754,  the  school  lands,  which  by  successive  grants  had  amounted 
to  nearly  fifty  acres,  were,  by  leave  of  the  court,  sold  at  auction, 
the  twenty-five  acres  at  Stop  river  being  started  at  £90.  In  1760, 
the  lands  between  the  two  ponds  (Blake's  pond  and  the  Mill  pond, 
now  Whiting's) ,  which  the  Wrentham  proprietors  had  donated  to 
the  town  30th  January,  1744,  on  condition  that  tliey  should  be 
used  for  schools,  were  sold  by  order  of  the  town  for  £158  15s.  8d., 
of  which  the  west  precinct  were  to  have  their  share  "  as  soon  as  set 
off  into  a  town  for  the  same  use." 

What  became  of  the  Franklin  share  of  this  money  is  not  clear 
from  the  records.  But  in  1792,  a  claim  to  certain  monej's  in  the 
Wrentham  treasury  was  referred  to  an  outside  committee  —  Daniel 
Perrj',  John  Stone,  and  Elisha  May  —  who  adjudged  £33  4s.  to 
the  town,  a  good  part  of  wliich  was  absorbed  in  the  costs  of  get- 
ting it. 


ADDENDA.  73 

The  first  grant  of  money  liy  the  town  for  schools  was  £200,  in 
May  20,  1778,  under  the  following  directions:  — 

Voted  that  the  nione}- granted,  to  be  appropriated  for  the  sup- 
port of  Schools  in  this  town  the  year  ensuing,  be  and  hereby  is 
ordered  to  be  expended  in  the  following  manner,  viz  :  the  several 
School  Destricts  in  this  town  to  have  the  same  Bounds  and  Lim- 
mits  as  was  usual  Before  this  town  was  Incorporated,  unless  in  the 
opinion  of  the  Selectmen  some  alteration  are  necessary,  which  is 
left  to  their  discretion  to  make  if  they  think  proper ;  and  that 
some  time  Before  the  Last  day  of  June  Next  the  Inhabitants  of 
Each  perticular  Destrict  shall  give  to  the  Selectmen  the  Number  of 
Children  Between  the  Age  of  four  years  and  sixteen  that  live  in 
each  perticular  destrict,  and  the  Selectmen  are  hereby  directed  to 
Divide  the  School  money  Iiy  the  Polls  taking  the  whole  number  of 
Children  in  the  town  as  above  Described  and  ascertain  to  Each 
Destrict  what  Sum  they  have  a  Rig"ht  to  Expend,  and  the  Inhabi- 
tants of  Each  Destrict  shall  have  Liberty  to  hire  School  Masters, 
or  Mistress,  or  both,  they  being  such  as  shall  be  approved  by  the 
Selectmen  to  keep  school  in  their  Perticular  District  until  their 
shair  of  the  money  is  p]xpended.  Provided  the  same  be  Accom- 
plished Before  the  Last  Daj'  of  June  1779.  —  and  in  case  any  Dis- 
trict shall  Neglect  to  Expend  their  part  of  the  money  by  the  time 
Perfixt  without  a  sufficient  Excuse  to  the  Satisfaction  of  the 
Selectmen,  the  Remainder  not  Expended  as  aforesaid  shall  Re- 
main in  the  Treasury  for  the  use  of  such  a  school  as  the  town 
shall  afterward  order. 

One  year  later,  Ma}-  19,  1779,  the  sum  of  £400  was  granted 
for  support  of  schools,  with  a  similar  vote  as  to  mode  of  expend- 
ing the  same.  In  1780  the  grant  was  £800.  These  sums  were  in, 
a  currency  known  as  the  ••  old  emission,"  and  of  depreciated  value. 
In  1781  the  grant  was  £200,  of  new  emission;  but  in  1782  the 
grant  was  reduced  to  £80. 

The  grants  from  year  to  year  were  about  the  same  in  amount 
until  A.  D.  1790,  when  the  sura  of  .§320  was  granted,  which  amount 
was  gradually  increased  until  A.  D.  1802,  when  $500  was  granted. 
In  1814  S600  was  granted,  and  in  1823  it  was  raised  to  $700.  The 
grant  for  schools  in  1839  was  $1,000;  in  18.5.5,  SI, GOO,  and  in 
1862  the  sum  of  $1,750  was  granted  and  apportioned  to  the  sev- 
eral schools,  in  accordance  with  the  recommendation  of  a  special 
committee.  In  1865  $2,500  was  granted,  and  in  18G8  $4,000  was 
the  sum  granted,  and  the  town  voted  to  establish  a  High  School. 


74  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

In  1873  the  grant  -was  raised  to  $6,000,  which   amount  has   been 
■coutinued  to  the  present  time.* 

These  grants  have  had  various  methods  of  subdivision.  From 
1778  until  1812  it  was  divided  according  to  the  number  of  children 
between  four  and  sixteen,  excepting  in  1792.  1795  to  1797,  when 
the  division  was  by  families.  In  1813,  and  mainly  until  the  aboli- 
tion of  the  district  system,  the  distribution  has  been  one-half  by 
the  numlier  of  families,  and  one-half  by  the  number  of  children. 
In  1789  it  was  voted  that  any  district  neglecting  to  make  return 
of  the  number  of  school  children  at  a  fixed  time  should  forfeit  its 
portion  of  the  appropriation. 

The  emploj-nient  of  teachers  had  been  for  many  years  entrusted 
to  the  selectmen.  Afterwards,  the  teachers  must  be  approved  bj' 
the  selectmen,  but  chosen  by  the  districts.  Next,  the  town 
appointed  prudential  committees  to  secure  teachers.  In  1827  the 
several  districts  were  authorized  to  choose  their  own  committees, 
and  this  became  an  annual  vote,  so  far  as  appears,  while  the  dis- 
tricts continued. 

At  first  the  clergyman  annually  visited  and  catechised  the 
schools,  and  It  was  a  great  day  when  the  catechising  came.  It 
usually  came  in  Maj-.  Notice  was  given  on  the  Sabliath  of  the 
intended  place  and  hour,  and  promptly  gathered  the  freshl3'-washed 
and  brushed  scholars  with  their  new  summer  apparel.  The  mo- 
ment the  well-known  chaise  appeared  the  noise  of  fifty  children 
ceased,  and  each  glided  into  a  seat  in  silent,  waiting  expectation 
for  the  incoming  of  the  minister.  Every  scholar  arose  as  he  en- 
tered the  room,  and  stood  until  he  reached  the  desk.  After  a  very 
short  prayer  thej'  sat,  and  he  began  here  or  there  as  his  eye 
chanced  to  fall,  until  every  child  had  told  his  own  and  his  parents' 
names,  and  had  answered  or  failed  to  answer  some  question  from 
the  assembly's  catechism.  Some  of  the  aluished  ones'  misquota- 
tions caused  even  the  gra\e  man  In  black  to  smile. 

It  has  been  told,  for  example,  that  a  lad,  very  bashful  by  na- 
ture and  unusually  tall  for  his  years,  had  timidly  doubled  himself 
upon  a  low  seat.  When  called  up  in  his  turn  he  slowly  rose  and 
waited,  blushing  and  abashed  at  his  short  name  and  awkward 
height.      Quickly,  as   the   llev.  Doctors'    manner   was,  came  the 

»  See  Keport  of  School  Committee  for  1877. 


ADDENDA.  75 

■question,  "  Can  you  sa}-  the  Lord's  pra3'er?"  "Tlie —  Lord's  — 
Praj-er,"  slowl}'  stammered  the  confused  }outh,  and  gradually  slid 
himself  together  again,  like  a  telescope,  back  to  his  seat.  It  was 
a  dittifult  uionu'ut  for  solemnity. 

These  annual  eatechisings  continued  far  into  the  present  cen- 
tury and  nearly  unto  the  end  of  the  reverend  pastor's  ministry, 
and  until  a  sharper  definition  of  the  public  school  and  the  school 
■committee  came  into  full  ollicial  position.  The  first  committee 
Mas  chosen  bv  the  town  in  March,  1802.  A  list  of  the  incumbents 
lip  to  the  present  time  is  appended,  with  other  town  officers.  The 
first  report  preserved  in  the  town  records  dates  March,  1810. 
Subsequentlj'  thej'  are  frequentlv  copied  by  vote  of  the  town. 
They  generally  and  sometimes  -vigorously  discuss  the  importance 
and  requirements  of  popular  education,  and  are  not  seldom  ac- 
cepted with  a  vote  of  thanks  from  the  town. 

The  establishment  of  school  boundaries  and  the  location  of 
school-houses  has  been  determined  by  the  wants  of  the  children. 
At  first,  a  central  school  had  to  supply  all.  Before  the  separation 
from  Wreutham  others  had  been  established.  In  1791  liberty 
was  given  to  the  overflow  of  any  district  to  attend  any  school  in 
town  where  the  teacher  could  convenientl}'  receive  them.  In  Jan- 
uar}',  IT'.to,  a  committee  was  instructed  to  report  upon  the  needed 
number  of  school-houses,  and  where  they  should  be  located.  In 
January,  1795,  a  committee  was  instructed  to  report  upon  the 
needed  number  of  school-houses  and  where  the}- should  be  located. 
In  November  following  their  report  is  received,  recommending  six 
districts  and  as  many  school-houses  —  namel}',  at  River  End,  at 
Long  Walk  division,  at  Maj.  Moses  Knapp's  division,  "  where  it 
now  is,"  at  Cdpt.  Asa  Fairbanks',  "not  more  than  twenty  rods 
from  Mine  Brook."  at  Dea.  James  Metcalfs  division,  and  at  the 
meeting-liouse  "  on  the  East  side  of  the  way  from  the  meeting- 
house to  Mr.  Emmons',  near  the  corner  of  Hezekiah  Fisher's 
land."  But  in  1800  these  divisions  suffered  a  rearrangement 
more  in  accordance  with  their  after  lioundaries,  and  their  names 
were  changed  to  geographical  designations.  In  1822  the  River 
End  district  was  divided,  and  other  divisions  occurred  until  the 
number  of  schools  was  increased  to  ten  —  the  present  number  of 
mixed  schools.  The  central  school,  however,  is  graded  into  four 
departments  and  six  schools,  with  a  total  attendance  the  current 


76  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

year  of  314.  The  number  of  attending  school  children  in  town  i.s 
572. 

The  materials  are  not  discoverable  for  anj-  particular  notice  of 
the  "  red  school-houses,"  which  once  illuniinated  tlie  cross-roads 
of  the  town.  Their  places  liave  been  lilled  by  far  more  conven- 
ient and  sightly  buildings,  erected  bj'  the  town  after  the  abolition 
of  the  district  system.  But  of  the  present  buildings  there  is  no 
need  of  mention. 

The  public  schools,  insufficient  in  length  for  the  demands  of  the 
people,  were  often  prolonged  by  private  subscriptions ;  and  many 
scholars  annually  resorted  to  Day's  Academy,  in  Wrentham,  for 
higher  instruction,  especially  in  the  classics  for  a  college  course. 
A  graduate  occasionally  taught  an  extra  term  in  the  autumn. 

Requests  from  several  persons  encouraged  the  present  writer  to 
attempt  a  private  school  of  a  liigher  grade  at  his  own  charges,  in 
the  fall  of  1835,  after  his  graduation  from  Amherst  College.  The 
central  district  kindly  offered  the  use  of  its  school-house.  The 
tuition  was  placed  at  twenty-five  and  tliirty-tlu'ee  cents  per  week, 
and  a  High  School  was  opened  witli  fift3'-six  scholars,  of  whom 
fourteen  came  from  other  towns.  With  such  encouragement  the 
school  continued  for  several  j'ears,  and  with  a  constantly  increas- 
ing patronage,  until  its  term  rolls  counted  sometimes  nearly  a  hun- 
dred names.  Within  the  first  year  of  its  existence  a  large  two- 
story  building  was  erected  by  a  stock  company,  with  accommoda- 
tions for  a  hundred  pupils,  recitation-rooms,  a  large  hall  for  pub- 
lic examinations,  apparatus,  etc. 

During  the  three  years  of  the  first  principal's  connection,  this 
school  counted  on  its  roll  the  names  of  many  scholars  since  well 
known  and  not  a  few  renowned  as  educators  and  lieads  of  import- 
ant institutions  of  instruction,  as  well  as  lawyers,  physicians  and 
ministers.  A  review  of  its  first  three  catalogues  is  now  to  the 
writer  a  frequent  and  pleasant  exercise,  and  the  occasional  meet- 
ing of  old  scholars  a  delightful  revival  of  some  of  the  brightest 
days  of  his  life. 

The  subsequent  career  of  the  old  Franklin  High  School,  under 
Bigelow,  Baker  and  others  is  not  particularly  known  to  the  writer. 
Upon  its  subsidence,  the  building  was  occupied  as  a  store,  and  is 
now  fitted  for  dwellings.  But  though  its  cupola  and  bell  are  gone, 
and  its  frout  pillars  and  recess  have  disappeared,  a  halo  of  kindly 


ADDENDA.  77 

memories  will  linger  about  it  still,  at  the  western  foot  of  the  Com- 
mon, as  long  as  the  young  eyes  of  1835-40  can  look  upon  its  site. 

A    HIGH    SCHOOL 

was  established  by  the  town  in  April,  1868,  and  was  opened  to 
pupils  on  May  20,  with  twenty-two  scholars,  and  Miss  Mary  A. 
Bryant  as  principal.  Since  the  close  of  her  service  the  line  of 
principals  has  been  Annie  E.  Patten,  Thomas  Curley,  and  Lucien 
I.  Blake,  the  present  occupant  of  the  position. 

The  educational  facilities  of  P^ranklin  have  been  especially  en- 
larged by  the  founding  of 

DEAN    ACADEMY. 

We  condense  from  its  annual  catalogues.  "  At  the  annual  session 
of  the  Massachusetts  Universalist  Convention,  lield  in  Worcester, 
Oct.  18-20,  1864,  the  subject  of  a  State  denominational  school, 
which  should  be  of  the  highest  grade  below  that  of  colleges,  was 
brought  to  the  attention  of  the  council  by  Rev.  A.  A.  Miner,  D.  D., 
President  of  Tuft's  College.  The  council  immediately  appointed 
a  committee  with  full  discretionarj-  powers,  with  Rev.  A.  St.  John 
Chanibrfe,  of  Stoughton,  as  chairman. 

This  committee  soon  held  a  spirited  public  meeting  in  Boston. 
The  parish  in  Stoughton  offered  $25,000  and  an  eligible  site. 
Oliver  Dean,  M.  D.,  of  Franklin,  proposed  to  give  a  tract  of 
eight  or  nine  acres  which  he  had  bought  of  the  former  estate  of 
Rev.  N.  Emmons,  D.  D.,  $10,000  towards  a  building,  and  $50,000 
as  a  permanent  fund.  Dr.  Dean's  proposal  was  accepted,  a 
charter  obtained,  trustees  chosen,  and  a  call  for  funds  for  building 
issued.  The  generous  responses  encouraged  the  trustees  to  secure 
plans  for  a  seminary  adequate  to  the  apparent  demands,  and 
ground  was  broken  in  August,  1866.  May  16,  1867,  the  corner- 
stone was  laid  with  appropriate  public  ceremonies.  The  continual 
rise  of  prices  of  labor  and  material  compelled  to  increased  sub- 
scriptions, Dr.  Dean's  donations  to  the  building  arising  to  about 
$75,000.  The  edifice  was  finished  and  dedicated  to  its  uses  May 
28,  1868,  with  a  dedicatory  address  b}'  Rev.  E.  C.  Bolles  of  Port- 
land, Me.  The  total  cost  of  the  building,  exclusive  of  furniture 
and  gas  apparatus,  was  about  $154,000.  It  was  220  feet  front, 
the  main  center  fifty  feet  by  sixty  deep,  and  two  wings,  each  fifty- 


78  HISTORY   OP   FRANKLIN. 

eight  feet  b_v  fortj'-four  in  depth,  with  still  other  wings  projecting 
into  the  rear,  and  three  stories  high.  The  style  was  French  Lom- 
bardic  and  altogether  was  a  very  appropriate  and  beautiful  edifice. 

While  the  academy  was  being  erected  a  school  was  begun, 
Oct.  1,  18CG,  in  the  vestr3-  of  the  Universalist  church,  with  fortj'- 
four  pupils,  under  Mr.  T.  G.  Senter  as  principal.  The  school  wa» 
removed  to  the  new  edifice  at  the  opening  of  the  summer  term 
of  18G8. 

But  during  the  night  of  July  31,  1872,  this  magnificent  building 
with  nearly  all  its  contents  was  destroyed  by  fire.  The  friends  of 
the  school,  however,  speedily  rallied  from  this  sudden  and  stun- 
ning blow  and  began  as  soon  as  possible  to  rebuild  upon  the  for- 
mer foundations.  The  school  meanwhile  was  continued  with  en- 
couraging prospects  in  the  Franklin  House,  which  had  beea 
purchased  bj-  the  trustees  and  citizens  of  the  town  for  this  purpose. 

It  was  with  great  labor  and  many  anxieties  that  the  trustees 
pushed  forward  the  work  in  their  care.  Desirous  of  furnishing 
the  best  facilities  for  education,  they  incorporated  every  improve- 
ment into  their  new  building,  and  with  so  much  success  that  they 
were  al)le  to  present  it  for  public  dedication  on  June  24, 1874,  and 
for  class  graduation  exercises  —  less  than  two  years  from  the 
destruction  of  its  predecessor.  The  school  removed  to  it  the  next 
term  —  September,  1874. 

The  present  building  occupies  substantially  the  same  dimensions 
and  dilfers  externally  very  little  from  the  previous  one,  except  in 
architectural  style,  being  Gothic.  The  internal  arrangements  are 
not  surpassed  by  anj'  other  educational  institution  in  the  State  ; 
while  its  exterior  brick  walls,  banded  and  corniced  with  sandstone, 
and  rising  to  a  fifth  story  in  the  center,  with  a  lofty  tower  sixty 
feet  high,  add  a  feature  to  the  beautiful  scenery  which  attracts 
and  holds  the  e3-e  of  every  visitor  with  admiration  of  its  chaste 
yet  impressive  proportions.    A  view  is  given  on  the  opposite  page. 

Dean  Academj-  continued  open  to  both  sexes  until  1877,  when  a. 
demand  for  a  young  ladies'  school  in  the  Universalist  church  de- 
cided the  trustees  to  open  the  institution  for  j'oung  ladies  only. 
Under  this  new  departure  it  began  the  fall  term  of  the  present 
year,  1877-8,  with  about  fifty  pupils.  There  is  not  yet  sufficient 
time  to  test  the  present  policy.  But  the  trustees  say  ' '  the 
promise  is  that   the  school  will  be  eminently  successful  in  the 


-5- 


ADDENDA.  79 

work  it  has  undertaken.     It  will  continue  to  be  Jirst  ckia.s  in  every 
respect,  and  to  furnish  a  thorough  education." 

Next  to  the  school,  as  one  of  the  educational  agencies  of  a 
town,  may  come  a  brief  notice  of 

X.       THK    POST-OFFICE. 

This  is  furnished  chiefl_y  by  Capt.  H.  C.  Fisher,  now  of  Haver- 
hill. 

There  was  no  properlj'  appointed  post-oflice  until  about  1819. 
The  few  newspapers  and  occasional  letters  for  the  first  centurj' 
of  the  settlement  came  b}-  chance  ueighborh"  hands  from  Wrent- 
ham,  where  they  were  left  bj'  the  carriers  between  Providence  and 
Boston.  As  late  as  1812  they  were  brought  from  South  'Wrentham 
on  Saturdays  and  left  at  Capt.  Nathaniel  Adams'  store  (after 
Da^-is  Thayer's) .  Ilermon  C.  Fisher,  then  about  15,  was  employed 
as  carrier  by  several  families.  As  there  were  but  thi-ee  mails  per 
week  between  Boston  and  Providence,  the  weeklj-  amount  for 
Franklin  was  not  a  heavy  horse-back  load.  But  the  interest  in 
the  events  of  the  war  of  1812  paid  for  the  long  weeklj'  journey 
thi'ough  AVrentham  Center  and  Guinea,  to  the  old  tavern  on  the 
Boston  and  Providence  road.  About  1815,  David  Fisher,  keeper 
of  the  only  tavern  then  in  Wrentham,  was  appointed  postmaster, 
an:l  the  Franklin  mail  was  brought  from  there  ;  Init  North  Frank- 
lin letters  came  from  Captain  Felt's  ofHce,  recently  opened  in 
Medwaj-  Village.  About  1819,  Eli  Richardson  built  the  stone 
store  at  Citj'  Mills  in  Franklin  and  secured  a  post-office  there. 
As  there  was  some  business  rivaby  between  the  Center  and  the 
City,  of  which  Davis  Thayer  and  Eli  Richardson  were  the  expo- 
nents respectivelj^,  the  Center  was  not  pleased  that  a  march  had 
been  stolen  upon  them.  True,  Mr.  Richardson  engaged  to  bring 
all  letters  and  papers  which  belonged  to  the  Center  to  meeting 
in  his  sulky  box  everj-  Sundaj-,  and  H.  C.  Fisher  took  the  package 
from  the  carriage  to  Major  Thajer's  store  for  distribution  ;  but 
the  letters  sometimes  miscarried,  the  inventory-  charges  did  not 
agree,  and  after  two  uneasj-  years  the  Center  moved  in  earnest 
for  a  post-office  of  its  own.  The  result  of  a  somewhat  bitter 
conflict  was  the  securing  of  an  office,  with  Davis  Thayer  as  post- 
master, and  David  Metcalf  as  mail-carrier  twice  a  week  from  the 
city  to  the  Center.     He  came  regularly  with  his  pouch,  but  as  Mr. 


80  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

Richardson  still  kept  the  keys,  nothing  came  of  it.  After  a  deal 
of  negotiating  with  the  Department,  quiet  and  order  finally  ob- 
tained, and  in  1822  the  ofHce  became  regularlj'  established  as 
"  Franklin,  D.  Thajer,  P.  M."  From  that  date  the  succession  of 
postmasters  has  been  Spencer  Pratt,  Theron  C.  Hills,  David  P. 
Baker,  Cyrus  B.  .Snow,  Charles  W.  Stewart,  D.  P.  Baker  again, 
A.  A.  Russeque  assistant.  Smith  Fisher,  J.  A.  AVoodward  occu- 
pant since  1871.  The  office  has  been  as  movable  as  the  incum- 
bent, being  held  in  any  most  convenient  store  at  the  Center. 

The  income  at  first  did  not  exceed  $50  per  quarter,  of  which  the 
postmaster  received  about  thirty  per  cent.,  but  its  business  in- 
creased rapidly  as  soon  as  differences  were  composed.  In  1864 
a  salary  was  affixed  of  §480  per  annum,  in  1866  at  $540,  and  in 
1868  at  $700.  In  1869  the  office  became  a  money-order  office, 
and  in  1870  the  salary  raised  to  $900,  and  in  1872  to  $1,000. 

XI.       ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY. 

The  early  ecclesiastical  history  of  Franklin  has  been  mainly 
embodied  in  the  preceding  address.  A  still  fuller  sketch  of  it  is 
contained  in  the  Centennial  Sermon  of  Rev.  Elam  Smallej',  in 
1838,  which  leaves  very  little  to  be  added  except  some  notice  of 
the  regularly  settled  pastors  of  the 

FIRST   CONGREGATIONAL    CHURCH. 

Rev.  Elias  Haven,  the  first  minister,  was  a  native  of  Fraining- 
ham.  He  descended  from  Richard  Haven  of  the  West  of  Eng- 
land, who  settled  in  Lynn  in  1645,  and  had  twelve  children. 

Moses,  his  j'oungest  son,  born  in  Lynn  20th  Ma}',  1667,  mar- 
ried Mary  Ballard,  and  had  eight  children.  He  moved  to  Framing- 
ham  before  1705,  and  was  deacon  in  1717. 

Joseph,  his  oldest  son,  born  8th  February,  1G89,  married 
Martha  Haven,  and  had  eleven  children.  He  moved  to  Ilopkiaton 
in  1724;  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  church  there  and  its 
deacon.     He  filled  the  highest  offices  in  town. 

Ehas,  the  third  son  and  child  of  Joseph,  was  born  in  Framing- 
ham,  16th  April,  1714  ;  graduated  at  Harvard  1733,  and  dismissed 
from  the  church  in  Hopkinton,  29th  October,  1738,  to  become  the 
pastor  of  the  church  in  Franklin.  He  married  Mary  Messenger, 
oldest  daughter  of  Rev.  Henry  Messenger  of  Wrentham  (born 


ADDENDA.  81 

■2Sth  August,  172-2)  aud  had  seven  children.  Rev.  Mv.  Messen- 
ger'.s  family  was  a  peculiarl}-  ministerial  household.  His  daughter 
Esther  married  Rev.  Amariah  Frost,  first  minister  of  Milford ; 
Sarah  married  first  Dr.  Cornelius  Kollock  of  "Wreutham,  and  sec- 
ond Rev.  Benjamin  Car^-l,  first  minister  of  Dover ;  while  Elizabeth 
was  the  wife  of  Rev.  Joseph  Bean,  her  father's  successor,  and  his 
son  James  was  the  first  minister  in  Ashford,  Ct. 

Four  only  of  Rev.  Mr.  Haven's  seven  children  reached  ma- 
turity.    These  were :  — 

2.  Thomas,  born  28th  August,  1744.  for  whose  history  see 
biogi'aphical  sketches. 

3.  Elias,  born  11th  November,  1745,  married  Elizabeth  Bright 
of  Dedham,  and  probabh"  removed  there. 

G.  "WiUiam.  born  20th  June,  1751.  of  whom  nothing  more  is 
known. 

7.  Mary,  born  May,  1753,  aud  lived  in  Dedlumi. 

Rev.  Mr.  Haven's  ministry-,  continued  through  much  weakness 
of  bod\'  and  frequent  suspensions,  was  ^ery  successful  in  results. 
One  hundred  and  seventy-one  members  were  added  to  the  church 
during  his  sixteen  j"ears,  most  of  them  during  the  great  re\aval 
of  1741.  But  consumption  earlj' marked  him  for  a  victim,  and 
the  last  five  j'ears  of  his  life  were  broken  by  long  intervals  of  in- 
ability to  preach.  The  records  of  the  church  and  the  parish  show 
the  devotion  of  the  people  by  their  frequent  sympathetic  votes 
and  cheerful  continuance  of  his  salary,  while  they  supplied  the 
pulpit  at  their  own  expense,  and  a  grant  of  £26  to  his  family 
after  his  death.  The  town  erected  a  stone  over  his  grave  in  the 
central  yard,  on  which  they  say  :  — 

AV'ho  are  desirous  of  giving 

And  of  perpetuating 

Their  public  Testimony 

To  his  faithful  ministry  aud  pious  Life 

By  wliich  tho"  dead  lie  yet  speaketh 
To  his  once  beloved  and  grateful  Flock. 

Rev.  Caleb  Baenam,  or  Baenum,  the  second  pastor,  was  of 
Daubury,  Ct.  His  immigrant  ancestor,  Thomas  Barnum,  was  first 
of  Fairfield,  then  in  Xorwalk,  and  afterwards  one  of  eight  original 
settlers  of  Danbury ;  where  Caleb  was  born  30th  June,  1737,  the 
son  of  Thomas  and  Deborah.  He  graduated  at  Princeton,  N.  J., 
1757,  and  A.  M.  in  1768  at  both  Princeton  aud  Harvard. 

6 


82  HISTORY   OF   FRANKLIN. 

Mr.  ]>armiiii  began  his  ministry  in  this  town  in  troublous  times, 
induced,  majbe,  b}'  the  six  years'  vacanej'  in  the  pastorate,  and 
continued  perhaps  by  the  hymn-book  war  and  known  decisiveness 
of  Franklin  jieople.  The  minister,  it  must  be  admitted,  was  also 
prompt  and  positi\'o  in  liis  opinions,  and  not  therefore  skillfully 
successful  in  adjusting  the  differences  of  others.  Yet  he  carried 
with  him  the  confidence  and  support  of  a  large  majority  of  the 
church,  and  it  was  with  great  reluctance  and  verj'  slowly  that  they 
consented  to  his  resignation.  The  records  of  the  time  seem  to 
show  that  the  differences  were  more  between  the  precinct  and  the 
church  than  with  the  minister.  He,  as  a  central  figure  between 
them,  received  the  attacks  of  both  parties,  and  as  usually  results, 
he  was  demolished  in  their  encounters.  A  communication  from 
the  precinct  to  the  church,  adopted  12th  March,  17t)4,  illustrates 
the  above  statement :  — 

We  have  had  Yours  of  ye  Twelve  of  Foln-uary  under  considera- 
tion and  have  Left  it  to  be  more  fully  answered  by  Capt.  .Jn.  Golds- 
bury,  and  others,  a  Committee  Chosen  at  a  Pro.  meeting  on  ye  6 
of  February  annodomimi  1704.  But  Can  ))y  no  means  Concur 
with  you  in  singing  either  Doct.  Watts  vertion  of  the  Psalms,  or 
Tate  &  Brady's  with  the  Hymns.  But  do  still  adhear  to  our  vote 
of  3'e  21  of  .Tune,  17G2,  and  Desire  ye  Church  would  Concur  with 
us  in  Singing  the  Old  Version  of  ye  Psalms  in  ye  Congregation  ; 
Leaving  the  church  to  thear  Own  C'horce  to  Sing  What  Version  of 
Psahns  they  Please  when  they  assemlile  by  themselves  for  Divine 
Worship,  but  if  the  Church  shall  not  think  Projaer  to  Concur  with 
ye  Precinct  in  Singing  the  Old  Version  of  the  Psalms,  That  you 
would  proceed  to  Send  out  ye  Letters  missive  to  the  churches 
Chosen  to  vSet  in  Ecclesiastical  Council  to  hear  and  advise  us  un- 
der our  Difficulties  and  that  the  Precinct  Clerk  wate  upon  ye  Rev. 
Mr.  Baruam  with  a  Coppy  of  this  Vote  and  with  a  Coppj-  of  the 
Votes  of  the  Precinct  Past  at  precinct  meeting  on  the  G  of  Febru- 
ary  1764:,  Desiring  they  may  be  Laid  before  the  Church  as  Soon 
as  may  be  with  Conveniency. 

The  council  alluded  to  was  convened  17th  April,  1764,  and  its 
result  accepted  7th  May,  and  expense  of  council,  £6.  lis.  2  cL, 
paid  bj'  the  precinct.     That  result  says  :  — 

We  look  upon  that  which  the  church  acted  in  voting  another 
version  of  the  Psalms  different  from  what  the  Christian  assembly 
in  this  Parish  from  their  original  foundation  had  been  in  the  pub- 
lic use  of  without  their  consulting  the  Congi-egation  was  unadvis- 
edly done.     Forasmuch  as  the  whole  of  the  religious  society  are 


ADDENDA.  83 

evidently  interested  therein.  Notwitlistanding  we  think  the  Pre- 
cinct were  very  assuming  in  Pretending  to  settle  sd  controverted 
l)oint  by  a  Parish  vote  and  demanding  or  requesting  the  church's 
concurrence,  forasmuch  as  consistent  with  oin- congregational  con- 
stitution it  has  always  been  considered  as  the  church's  right  to  go 
before  in  matters  of  divine  worship,  and  in  regard  to  many  con- 
curring circumstances  attending  the  church's  vote  of  introducing 
Dr.  Watts'  version  we  are  of  opinion  that  it  is  advisable  that  the 
congregation  rather  acquiesce  in  said  vote  and  sing  the  version  of 
Dr.  Watts  in  part  together  with  our  New  England  version  in  part  ; 
which  version  said  congregation  have  Lately  assaid  to  Kevive,  and 
that,  considering  the  uncomfortable  and  unhappy  state  which  must 
attend  the  people  in  maintaining  controversies  of  this  kind,  we 
advise  the  Rev.  Pastor  and  church  to  condescend  thereto  for  the 
Present,  that  ye  raay  all  have  an  opportunity,  hoping  withal  in 
in  due  time  you'll  impro\e  it  that  ye  may  all  unite  in  one  version. 

The  hj-mual  discord  was  accompanied  bj-  other  troubles  to  the 
pastor.  Some  withdrew  on  suspicion  of  his  unsoundness  "  on  the 
doctrine  of  universal  redemption  and  assurance  of  faith,"  and 
several  left  to  attend  Separatist  meetings ;  but  the  majoritj^  of  the 
chm'ch  vindicated  the  pastor  and  I'ebuked  the  dissentients.  Still, 
Mr.  Earnum  persisted  in  pressing  his  dismissal,  until  it  was 
reluctantl_y  gi-anted.  In  his  ministry  of  eight  years,  forty  were 
added  to  the  church  by  profession  and  eight  b}'  letter. 

Mr.  Baruum  was  installed  over  the  first  church  in  Taunton,  2cl 
February,  17G9.  When  the  news  of  the  fight  at  Lexington  reached 
Taunton,  he  euthusiasticallj-  addressed  his  people  upon  the  duties 
of  the  crisis,  and  himself  entered  the  army  of  the  patriots,  3cl 
May,  1775,  and  was  chaplain  of  the  Twenty-fourth  Regiment, 
Col.  John  Greaton,  then  near  Boston,  10th  Februarj',  1776.  He 
followed  his  regiment  to  New  York  and  to  Montreal.  On  his 
rctm'u  he  was  taken  sick  at  Ticonderoga  and  was  discharged  24th 
July.  But  death  arrested  him  at  Pittsfield  on  the  23d  of  August, 
at  the  age  of  39. 

Mr.  Barnum  was  a  fully  proportioned  man  of  over  six  feet  in 
height  and  of  vigorous  muscle,  which,  if  tradition  be  reliable,  he 
did  not  decline  to  use  when  occasion  demanded  ;  as  when  he  once 
took  down  a  blatant  wTestler  who  had  made  himself  obnoxious. 
A  portrait  preserved  of  him  presents  a  very  majestic  and  author- 
itative presence  in  his  ample  wig. 

Mr.  Barnum  married    13th  June,  1761,  PrisciOa,  daughter  of 


84  HISTORY   OF    PRANKLIX. 

Re^-.  Caleb  Rice,  of  Sturbridge,  and  sister  to  Col.  Nathan  Rice,  of 
Ilingham.  aid-de-c-umii  to  General  Lincoln,  in  the  Southern  cam- 
paign.    They  had  eight  children  :  — 

1.  Caleb,  born  lltli  April,  17G2,  and  married  Nancy  Paine,  of 
Thetford,  Yt. 

2.  Priscilla,  born    1st   April.    17(i4,  and   married  Capt.    Da\'id 
Vickery,  of  Taunton. 

3.  Deborah,  born  27tli  October,  17G6,  and  married  Thomas  S. 
Bailies,  of  Dighton. 

4.  Cleorge,  born  2.3d  May,  1708,  and  married  Sally  Cutler,  of 
Warren. 

5.  Mary,  died  young. 

6.  Thomas,  born  30th  October,  1  772  and  married  Sally  Abra- 
ham, of  New  York. 

7.  Anna,  born  30th  December,  1773,  and  married  Rufus  Child. 
of  AVoodstock,  Ct. 

8.  Polly,  born  11th  October,  1775.  and  married  Rev.  Peter 
Nourse,  of  Ellsworth,  Me. 

Of  the  third  minister.  Rev.  Natiianael  Emmons,  D.  D.,  a 
portrait  is  given  as  he  was  at  abont  GO  years  of  age.  The  ex- 
haustive memoir  by  Prof.  E.  A.  Park,  D.  D.,  has  left  nothing 
for  addition  or  correction.  It  is  no  dubious  commendation  of  his 
character  and  ministry  that  his  name  is  still  a  brightness  in  the 
memory  of  all  the  elder  citizens  of  Franklin,  and  even  mellowed 
into  a  sunnier  radiance  bj"  the  lapse  of  years.  So  strong  was  the 
regard  to  him  personallj'  that  his  namesakes  are  found  in  manj'  a 
family  and  in  many  a  town  and  State,  while  anecdotes  of  him  and 
his  pithy  apothegms  are  still  current  —  bright  as  new  coin,  and 
more  valuable.  We  find  him  a  member,  and  often  the  chairman, 
of  important  committees  chosen  by  the  town  on  matters  of  moral 
interest.  Yet  he  was  never  a  dictator,  lint  carried  the  public 
laind  by  his  clear  and  convincing  logic.  He  sharpened  the  intel- 
lects of  his  people  and  made  them  alert,  discrimin.ating  and  clear- 
headed thinkers,  having  settled  opinions  of  tiieir  own.  He 
ruled,  therefore,  onl^-  by  always  moving  in  the  line  of  their  own 
intelligent  convictions.  They  knew  him  to  be  simply  following 
truth  and  they  had  to  follow  his  guidance,  because  he  justified 
every  step  of  his  way. 

In  cue  aspect,  at  least.  Dr.  Emmons  has  been  and  is  sometimes 


cM.^^<S' 


ADDENDA.  85 

still  rnisroprcsoiitod.  He  was  not  eiut,  dogmatic,  aiidie  pellant. 
He  was  not  imsocial  and  austere  to  his  people,  nor  a  bugbear  to 
the  joung.  But  he  invited  and  received  us  cordiallj'  into  his 
study,  drew  us  out  of  our  bashfulness,  and  always  dismissed  us 
with  new  thoughts  and  higher  impulses.  He  was  afl'able,  genial, 
and  enjoyed  a  joke  as  keenly  as  any  of  us.  The  young  people  of 
his  day  still  remember  his  indescribable  chuckle  with  which  he 
followed  his  sallies  of  wit.  He  loved  to  test  us  with  Socratic 
questions,  and  highly  enjoyed  our  escapes  from  entanglements  ; 
and  herein  laj-  his  power  over  our  generation.  He  won  our  con- 
fidential regard  and  never  wrenched  it  afterwards  bj-  the  tension 
of  any  inconsistent  demands.  The  writer  hopes  to  be  pardoned 
for  adding  so  much  in  vindication  of  the  aged  pastor  who  stimu- 
lated him  as  well  as  so  many  others  in  the  pursuit  of  education 
and  whom  some  who  never  knew  him  have  painted  as  distant, 
morose,  and  forliidding  in  manners.     It  is  a  slander  on  the  man. 

Dr.  Emmons'  active  ministry  continued  about  fiftj^-four  j-ears 
—from  21st  April.  1773,  to  28th  May,  1827.  He  died  ^Sd  Sep- 
tember. 1840.  at  nearl}'  96.  He  often  said  that  he  should  never 
have  ventured  to  settle  over  the  Franklin  church  —  so  vigor- 
ously divided  in  feeling  —  if  Mr.  Niles  had  not  just  before  him 
preached  to  that  people  his  two  sermons  with  such  effect  during 
his  supply  of  the  Franklin  pulpit.  One  sermon  was  from  the  text, 
"  I  ask  for  what  intent  ye  have  sent  for  me?"  wherein  he  de- 
scribed the  objects  for  which  some  people  wanted  a  minister,  and 
the  proper  business  of  the  ministrj-.  The  other  sermon  was  on 
the  text.  "  I  hear  that  there  are  divisions  among  j-ou,"  in  which 
their  discords  and  their  consequences  were  plainly  aud  faithfullj^ 
set  forth. 

Twice  during  his  ministry,  in  ITM  and  again  in  1781,  Dr.  Em- 
mons, discouraged  with  his  apparently  fruitless  labors,  asked  a 
dismission,  which  his  people  unanimously  declined  to  grant.  An 
extensive  and  powerful  revival  followed  before  the  latter  year 
closed,  from  which  about  seventy  were  added  to  the  church.  It 
was  the  end  of  his  discouragements.  During  his  active  life  308 
were  gathered  into  the  church.  His  letter  of  resignation,  after  his 
fainting  in  the  pulpit,  is  worthy,  for  its  loving  simplicitj',  of  a 
place  in  this  history  :  — 


86  HISTORY   OP   FRANKLIN. 

FuANKLiN.  Maj-  28,  1827. 

To  the  Members  of  the  Clnirch  and  to  the  Members  of  the  Religions 

Society  in  this  Plw-e. 

Brethren  &  Friends  :  I  have  sustained  the  Pastoral  Relation 
to  you  for  more  than  fifty  j'ears,  which  is  a  long  ministerial  life. 
The  deoaj's  of  nature  and  increasing  infirmities  of  old  age  and  my 
present  feeble  state  of  health  convince  nie  that  it  is  my  dutj'  to 
retire  from  the  field  of  labor  which  I  am  no  longer  able  to  occupy 
to  mj'  own  satisfaction,  nor  to  3'our  benefit.  I  therefore  take  the 
liberty  to  inform  you  that  I  can  no  longer  supply  your  pulpit  and 
perform  any  ministerial  labor  among  3'ou  ;  and  at  the  same  time 
that  I  renounce  all  claims  upon  you  for  anj-  future  ministerial  sup- 
port, relying  intirely  on  your  wisdom  and  goodness  to  grant  or 
not  to  gi'ant  any  gratuity  to  j'our  aged  servant  during  the  residue 
of  his  life.  Natiianael  Emmons. 

The  parish  responded  with  a  grant  of  $500  per  annum. 

Dr.  Emmons  was  descended  from  Samuel  Emmons  of  Cambridge, 
a,nd  was  the  son  of  Dea.  Samuel,  Jr.,  and  Knth  (Cone)  Emmons 
of  East  Iladdam,  Ct.  He  was  born  1st  Maj',  ITlo,  and  gradu- 
ated at  Yale  College  1767. 

He  married,  first,  Deliverance  French  of  Braintree,  Gtli  April, 
1775.  She  died  22d  June,  1778.  and  her  two  children  in  Septem- 
ber. Second,  Martha  Williams,  of  Hadley,  4th  November,  1779, 
by  whom  he  had  six  children. 

1.  Martha,  wife  of  AV'illard  Gay,  Esq.,  of  Dedham. 

2.  Deliverance. 

3.  Sarah. 

4.  Mary,  wife  of  Rev.  Jacoli  Ide.  D.  D..  of  Medway,  who  is 
still  living  with  her  husband  in  a  serene  old  age,  and  the  mother 
of  two  sons  in  the  ministry  —  Revs.  Jacob,  Jr. ,  and  Alexis  "W.  Ide. 

5.  Williams,  B.  U.,  1805.  Lawj'erin  Augusta.  Me.,  Senator  and 
Judge  of  Probate. 

C.  Erastus.     Major,  aid-de-camp  to  General  Crane  ;  died  young. 

Mrs.  Emmons  died  2d  August,  1829,  and  he  married,  third,  Mrs. 
Abigail  M.  Mills  of  Sutton,  18th  September,  1831,  who  lived  to 
be  over  90. 

A  view  of  the  home  of  Dr.  iMnmons  in  Franklin  is  inserted 
here,  as  perhaps  the  most  suitable.  It  stood  on  the  north  corner 
of  Main  and  Emmons  streets.  The  old  button-wood  tree  near 
his  study  windows  is  still  flourishing,  as  well  as  two  apple  trees 
on  its  western  side  ;  Init  the  house  itself  was  removed  some  years 


o 

3   I 
2  = 


II 


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3  -3 


A  H^^\/^^/"V\ 


ADDENDA.  87 

ago,  and  now  does  dutj-  as  a  tenement-house,  as  historic  buildings 
are  wont  to  do  in  our  hurrying  age. 

Rev.  Klam  Smalley,  D.  D.,  was  settled  as  the  successor —  not 
colleague  —  of  Dr.  Emmons.  17th  .Tune,  1S29.  Aftera  nine  years' 
pastorate,  he  was  dismissed  5th  July,  1X38,  to  take  charge  of  the 
Union  church,  Worcester,  where  he  was  installed  September  10. 
He  remained  here  until  18;j;5,  when  he  was  dismissed  to  go  to  the 
Fourth  Presbyterian  church  in  Troy,  N.  Y.  He  was  compelled 
bj'  ill  health  to  relinquish  this  charge  not  long  after.  But  a  voy- 
age to  Europe  failed  to  restore  him,  and  he  died  very  soon  after 
his  return,  in  New  York  city,  30th  July.  1858.  at  the  early  age  of 
58. 

Dr.  Smallej-  was  a  native  of  Dartmouth.  He  succeeded  by  his 
own  exertions  in  fitting  for  college,  and  graduated  at  Brown  Univer- 
.sity  ISi'T,  and  Doctor  of  Divinity  1841).  He  studied  theology  with 
Rev.  Otis  Thompson,  of  Rehoboth,  supporting  himself  as  he  had 
done  in  college  by  teaching  singing-schools,  in  which  he  was  sin- 
gularly adept.  Dr.  Smalley  married  Louisa  J.,  daughter  of  Gen. 
Abiel  and  EUzabeth  Washburn,  of  Middleboro,  and  left  two  chil- 
dren, Louisa  Jane,  for  several  j'ears  teacher  of  music  in  the 
AVheaton  Female  Seminary,  Norton,  now  resident  in  Boston,  and 
George  "\V.  (See  notices  of  graduates.)  Mrs.  Smallej'  died  at 
Middleboro  7th  June,  1874,  and  was  buried  by  the  side  of  her 
husband  in  Troy.  N.  Y. 

Dr.  Smalley's  ministry'  in  this  town,  though  following  the  long 
and  thorough  fidelity  and  renown  of  Dr.  Emmons,  was  still  most 
pleasant  and  prosperous.  It  was  confessedly  his  happiest  pasto- 
rate, and  the  sur\'ivors  of  his  people  lament  to  this  day  that  he  did 
not  see  it  his  duty  to  remain  in  the  country  parish  where  all  were 
so  ready  to  do  him  honor.  His  memory  is  still  cherished  with 
tender  affection  in  the  families  that  knew  of  his  suave  and  gra- 
cious manners  without  as  well  as  within  the  pulpit. 

Rev.  Tertius  Dunning  Soutuwortit  was  installed  the  fifth 
pastor  of  the  church,  23d  Januar}',  1839,  and  was  dismissed  25th 
April,  1850,  after  a  ministry  of  eleven  years. 

Mr.  Southworth  was  son  of  Rev.  James  and  Mary  (Dennison) 
Southworth,  pastor  of  the  Congregational  church,  Bridgewater, 
N.  Y.,  and  descendant  of  Constant  Southworth,  of  Plymouth, 
whose   mother,  Alice,  was  wife  of  the  Sir  Richard   Southworth, 


88  HISTORY    OP    FRANKLIN. 

knighted  by  James  I,  and  afterwards  wife  of  Gov.  William  Brad- 
ford. He  was  liorii  in  Rome,  X.  Y.,  Soth  Jiih",  1801,  graduated 
at  Hamilton  1827  ;  was  one  yeax  at  Auburn  Theological  Semiuarj-, 
and  graduated  at  Andover  1829  ;  ordained  at  Utica,  N.  Y.,  7th 
October,  1832.  Installed  at  Claremont,  N.  H.,  18th  June.  1834, 
and  left  in  summer  of  1838  to  come  to  Franklin.  After  leaving 
FrankUn  he  spent  six  months  in  Lyndon,  Vt..  then  in  Whiteluck, 
Washington  county,  N.  Y.  He  preached  statedly  there  and  at 
Pownal  and  Bennington,  Vt.,  for  nearly'  live  years,  having  a 
school  at  the  same  time  in  his  house.  Thence  he  went  to  Pleasant 
Prairie,  Wis.,  for  ten  years,  part  of  the  time  under  commission  of 
the  American  Home  Mission  Society,  until  a  rheumatic  fever  dis- 
abled him  from  further  service.  In  1860  he  returned  to  his  early 
home  in  Bridgewater,  N.  Y.,  where  he  died  2d  August,  1874,  and 
■was  buried  in  the  silken  surplice  given  him  by  the  ladies  of  Frank- 
lin some  thirty  years  before. 

Mr.  Southw'orth  married  Martha,  oulj-  daughter  of  Luther  and 
Martha  (Niles)  Warren,  of  "NV^eathersfield,  Vt.  She  was  born  in 
Haverhill,  N.  IL,  and  gi'aduated  at  the  Hartford  Female  Seminar}' 
in  1837.  She  now  resides  in  Springfield,  Vt.  Thej'  had  no  chil- 
dren. 

Rev.  Samiel  Hunt  succeeded  Rev.  jNIr.  Sonthworth  as  pastor, 
being  installed  4th  December.  1850,  where  he  remained  until  his; 
dismission  6th  July,  1864. 

Mr.  Hunt  was  a  native  of  West  Attleboro,  the  son  of  Deacon 
Richard  and  Ann  (Humphrey)  Hunt,  born  18th  March,  1810. 
He  graduated  at  Amherst  College  1832,  and  afterwards  taught  the 
academj'  in  Southampton,  Mass.,  also  in  Southampton,  L.  I. 
From  1836  to  1838  he  studied  theology  in  Princeton,  N.  J.,  and, 
after  supplying  the  pulpit  a  j-ear  in  ^lansfleld,  he  was  ordained  in 
Natick,  17th  July,  1839.  In  May,  1850,  was  dismissed,  and  on 
December  4  following  -was  settled  in  Franklin.  After  foiuteen 
years  of  good  service  he  was  dismissed  in  1864.  He  next  entered 
the  service  of  the  American  ^Missionary  Association,  in  establish- 
ing schools  among  Freedmen.  He  became  associated  in  1868 
with  Hon.  Henry  Wilson,  afterwards  Vice-President,  and  his  for- 
mer parishioner.  He  was  his  private  secretary,  and  aided  him  in 
l^reparing  his  work,  "'The  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Slave  Power  ia 
America,"  and  edited  the  last  volume  after  Mr.  Wilson's  decease. 


ADDENDA.  89 

Mr.  Hunt  married  first  Mary,  (laughter  of  IMaj.  .Tosei)h  Foster, 
of  Southampton,  L.  I.  ;  afterwards  Abigail  B.,  daughter  of  Willis 
Fisher,  of  Fraukliu ;  and  third  Mrs.  Homer,  widow  of  Samuel 
Homer.  Esq.,  of  Boston.  He  has  living  a  son  and  two  daughters, 
of  his  first  wife. 

Since  this  page  was  written  Mr.  Hunt  has  died  in  Boston,  23d 
July,  1878. 

Rev.  George  A.  Peltox  was  called  by  the  church,  18th  May, 
I860,  and  was  installed  9th  August,  as  appears  bj^  the  records  of 
the  church,  for  one  year.  But  he  continued  more  than  a  j'ear, 
until  he  withdrew  for  a  AVestern  field.  The  years  18G7-9  he  spent 
iu  Bethel,  Ct.  Thence  he  went,  in  1869,  to  Candor,  N.  Y.  ;  after 
four  years  he  removed  to  Groton,  N.  Y.,  where  he  remained  until 
1877,  when  he  went  to  Moms^-ille,  Madison  count}-,  N.  Y.,  -where 
he  still  remains  as  acting  pastor  to  the  Congregational  church  in 
that  village. 

Rev.  Luther  Keene  was  the  eighth  regularlj'  installed  pastor 
of  the  old  church.  He  was  a  native  of  IMilo,  Me.,  born  30th 
January,  1830,  and  son  of  Luther  and  Lydia  (Hopkins)  Keene. 
He  graduated  at  Amherst  College,  1859,  and  at  Bangor  1862.  In 
October  following  he  was  settled  as  pastor  of  the  Union  Congre- 
gational church,  iu  North  Brookficld.  At  the  close  of  a  fl\'e  years' 
pastorate  he  was  installed  here,  9th  October,  1867.  His  success- 
ful and  ver}'  promising  ministry  was  brought  to  an  unexpected 
close  17th  April,  1874,  by  his  sudden  and  widely  lamented  death. 
But  his  brief  labors  were  marked  by  several  permanent  results ; 
not  the  least  being  a  nearlj'  doubled  membership  in  the  church, 
the  present  commodious  parsonage,  and  the  beautiful  meeting- 
house in  which  the  centennial  services  were  held,  and  which  so 
many  visitors  admired  for  its  chaste  proportions.  Mr.  Keene  left 
no  children.  His  widow  still  lives  in  Bangor,  Me.,  to  lament  her 
irreparable  loss. 

Since  Mr.  Keeue's  decease  the  church  has  had  no  pastor.  Its 
pulpit  has  been  supplied  bj'  yearly  engagements  or  stated  supplies, 
who  can  leave  only  transient  impressions  on  the  community  and 
liable  to  be  obscured,  if  not  obliterated,  bj^  the  next  incumbent  — 
a  policy  which  this  ancient  and  influential  church  can  well  afford 
to  exchange  for  the  ••more  excellent  way "  under  which  their 
fathers  grew  strong  in  numbers  and  in  stability. 


so  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

THE    OLD    MEETING-HOUSE 

is  the  center  of  countless  associations,  binding  every  New  England 
child  to  his  home  and  his  youth.  In  the  earh^  daj's,  when  there 
was  but  one  sanctuary  in  a  town,  it  was  the  common  center  for  a 
thousand  tender  hearts.  In  it  and  around  it  boy  friendships  were 
formed,  and  even  deeper  alliances  were  begun.  Our  towns  have 
lost  one  unifying  power  through  the  multiplication  of  sanctuaries, 
by  breaking  up  tliat  central  house  which  once  rallied  weekly  all 
the  sons  and  daughters  as  to  a  common  home.  Homely  and  un- 
comfortable to  our  ideas  it  might  be,  Initit  treasured  the  loves  and 
hopes,  the  griefs  and  the  consolations  of  all  the  famihes  of  the 
town. 

Of  the  first  meeting-house  perhaps  enough  was  said  in  the  ad- 
dress.    Of  the  second  edifice  we  add  a  few  further  particulars. 

The  question  of  a  new  and  larger  building  was  raised  as  early 
as  1770;  hut  such  ditfering  opinions  obtained  and  the  exigencies 
of  the  Revolutionary  War  were  so  pressing  that  nothing  effective 
was  done  for  seventeen  j^ears.  The  frequent  refusals  of  the  town 
to  repair  the  old  house  indicate  the  foregone  conclusion  that  a 
new  one  is  to  be  built. 

In  1784,  April  2G,  £200  is  voted  to  procure  materials  towards 
the  new  meeting-house.  But  in  178.5,  October  3d,  it  is  voted  that 
"the  constable  pay  back  the  money  collected  for  the  meeting- 
house and  return  the  tax-bill  into  the  town  clerk's  office,  and  that 
the  town  clerk  pull  off  the  seal  of  the  warrants  and  write  on  the 
back  that  they  are  null  and  void."  and  that  a  committee  '-view 
the  meeting-house  and  report  what  is  best  to  be  done  to  repair  it." 
These  repairs,  chiefly  patching  the  shingles.  suppl\'ing  glass  to  the 
upper  windows  and  boarding  the  lower,  amounted  to  £G  2s.  lOd. 

But  in  1787,  December  3,  the  new  meeting-house  party  gain 
the  ascendency  and  proceeds  forthwith  to  work.  Samuel  Leth- 
bridge,  Asa  Whiting,  Ens.  Joseph  "WTiiting  are  sent  to  bargain 
with  Ens.  John  Adams  for  the  '-o-t-rod  spot."  They  report  the 
purchase  of  the  nine  acres  of  land  constituting  the  present  Com- 
mon. Another  committee  of  thirteen  report  that  "the  house  be 
et  long  with  a  porch  at  each  end  14  feet  square,  and  the  said 
house  be  40  feet  wide,  with  50  pews  on  the  lower  floor  and  10  in 
the  gallerj- ;  the  windows  to  contain  24  squares  each,  the  glass  to 


ADDENDA.  91 

be  8  by  10  inches."  A  tax  of  £300  is  levied  and  •'  the  parish  "  is 
divided  into  eight  classes  with  one  collector  for  each  class.  These 
eight  collectors  are  to  choose  a  chairman,  assign  the  procuring 
of  materials  by  a  special  committee  to  each  class,  and  affix  a 
price  on  materials  furnished,  except  shingles  ;  all  materials  to  be 
delivered  on  the  spot  by  the  15th  of  April  next,  1788. 

December  31st,  it  is  voted  to  sell  the  pews  at  public  vendue  to 
the  highest  bidder  as  per  plan,  and  to  bid  for  choices,  each  pew 
so  sold  to  be  the  purchaser's  property.  Ms  heirs  and  assigns  for- 
ever. Each  purchaser  is  to  pay  one-eighth  in  mone_v  on  or  before 
April  1  next,  and  may  also  furnish  three-eighths  in  material  as 
wanted,  giving  his  note,  payable  September  1  next,  for  the  bal- 
ance, with  interest  after  and  until  paid.  It  is  A'oted  also  that  the 
house  be  clapboarded  with  the  best  sawed  clapboards,  shingled 
with  white-pine  shingles,  and  enclosed  with  oak  and  pitch-pine 
boards  ;  floors  to  be  of  best  pitch-pine  ;  shingle-nails  of  cold  iron 
or  wrought ;  and  Samuel  Lethbridge.  Peter  Whiting,  and  Dea. 
James  Metcalf  are  chosen  superintending  committee.  They  are 
instructed  "to  superintend  and  take  ettectual  care  that  a  Xew 
Meeting-house  be  built  in  this  town  in  a  manner  and  forni  agreea- 
ble to  the  rates  passed  from  time  to  time  for  that  pur^iose  ;  and  it 
shall  be  the  business  of  the  Committee  to  order  and  direct  where 
the  timber  and  stuff  shall  be  laid,  prepair  and  order  the  Spot  for 
Fraiming.  procure  Workmen  and  Labourers  to  do  the  work,  take 
care  that  good  stones  be  brought  and  laid  for  the  foundation, 
make  Provision  for  lioarding  and  Lodging  the  Workmen,  fix  upon 
the  time  when  to  begin  to  frame,  and  the  Day  when  to  Raise  the 
building  and  make  all  Necessarv  provision  therefor,  and  to  pro- 
cure all  such  jVIaterial  of  every  Kind  as  mav  be  necessary  to  finish 
the  house.  Excepting  such  as  other  Com'tees  are  Directed  to  pro- 
cure. And  the  Selectmen  are  directed  at  the  Request  of  sd 
C'om'tee  to  give  Orders  upon  the  Treasurer  in  favour  of  sd  Coin'tee 
for  such  sums  of  Money  as  may  be  Necessar\-  for  their  Expendi- 
ture in  Compleating  ye  work  as  above  directed,  and  sd  Com'tee 
shall  keep  an  Exact  accoiuit  of  their  time  and  Expenditures  of  the 
Mone^-  Reed  and  Expended  and  for  what  purpose  in  a  Book  for 
that  sole  purpose,  and  May  if  they  think  Necessary'  appoint  a 
Clerk  to  Assist  them  who  shall  have  a  Reasonable  allowance  for 
his  Sen-ices,  and  sd  Com'tee  are  Directed  to  take  Receipts  for  all 


92 


HISTORY   OP   FRANKLIN. 


Moneys  paid  out  where  the  sum  is  more  then  15  shill,  and  shall 
hij'  there  Boolv  Before  the  Town  for  inspection  at  an}-  time  when 
properly  called  for." 

At  tlie  next  meeting,  Jan.  7,  1788,  tlie  number  of  pews  was 
increased  to  tifty-tive,  and  the  pew  next  to  the  pulpit  stairs  was  set 
apart  to  the  minister's  family.  The  rest  of  the  pews  were  sold 
agreealily  to  a  previous  vote.  The  highest  price  paid  was  £17 
l(Js.  8d.,  by  Asa  Fairbanks,  Jr.,  and  James  Metcalf.  The  total 
sales  amounted  to  £492  Gs.  4d. 


THE   OI-D   MEETINO-HOUSE. 
(From  memory.) 

July  4,  1788,  a  vote  of  thanks  was  given  to  Hezekiah  Fisher 
"  for  his  present  of  the  glass  to  the  meeting-house." 

December  18,  voted  to  finish  the  meeting-house  next  summer, 
and  with  banisters  to  the  pews. 

June  8,  1789,  allowed  the  building  committee  to  use  an}-  part 
of  the  old  meeting-house  in  finishing  the  new. 

October  1"2,  a  committee  is  chosen  to  sell  the  old  house,  or  if  not 
disposed  of  within  twenty  daj's  to  pull  it  down  —  the  latter  fate 


ADDENDA.  93 

probablj-  befalling  it,  and  also  a  committee  ' '  to  order  where  noon 
bouses  and  stables  shall  be  built,  and  to  mark  out  the  bounds  of 
the  Common." 

A  view  of  this  old  meeting-house  is  inserted  on  the  opposite 
page.  It  is  drawn  from  the  still  ^^^^d  picture  on  our  memorj', 
and  will  revive  pleasant  thoughts  in  the  minds  of  our  old  inhabi- 
tants of  their  young  days. 

The  cost  of  the  meeting-house,  as  rendered  by  the  committee 
to  the  town  7th  March,  1791,  is  as  follows :  — 

Lumber  at  Boston £57  lUs.  3d. 

Carting  from  Boston 10  19s.  3d.  3 

Rum,  Sugar,  Molasses  &  Lemons  at  Boston 12    6s.  3d. 

Lickquers  purchased  at  home 3    3s.  4d. 

Cost  of  raising  the  house 26    8s.  9d. 

I^ails  and  other  Iron  ware  at  Boston 15    7s.  5d. 

"      "         "        "        "      "    home 25  15s.  2d. 

-Painting,  Tarring  &  Glazing 73    6s.  5d. 

Boards,  Clapboards  &  Shingles  at  home 33    5s.  Od. 

Plastering  &  Whitewashing 18    4s.  3d.  2 

ITnderpinning  the  house 26  12s.  Sd. 

Boarding  the  Workmen 81  14s.  8d. 

Carpenter's  Work 233    Os.  8d. 

Doorstones  &  Paving  round  the  house 25    Is.  3d. 

Window  Weights 5  18s.  4d. 

Cost  of  the  Curtain  (behind  the  pulpit' 3    7s.  3d. 

Expenses  of  the  Committee 69    3s.  7d. 

£726  3s.  4d. 

DONATIONS. 

Hezekiah  Fisher  to  purchase  the  Glass £29    4s.  4d.  3 

Nathaniel  Thayer 2  10s.  7d.  3 

Jonathan  Wales 1  16s.  Od. 

Josiah  Hawes 14    3s.  Od. 

Nathan  Man 1    os.  6d.  1 

£35    8s.  8d.  3 

Total  of  class  tax £293  17s.  Id.  1 

Received  from  Sale  of  Pews 622  lis.  Od. 

Interest  on  Securities  for  Pews 13  17s.  6d. 

From  the  Old  House 13  12s.  6d. 

£943  18s.  Id.  1 

'Total  cost  of  meeting-house £1,054  9s.  2d.  1 

Or  at  the  then  value $3,514  86 

The  town  seems  to  have  been  as  much  obscured  as  we  have  been 
by  these  footings,  for  they  demurred  at  the  charges  of  the  com- 


94  HISTORY   OF   FRANKLIN. 

mittee,  and  appointed  auditors  to  examine  the  acconnts.  In  1794, 
Marcli  10,  they  reported  as  charged  to  the  cost  of  the  house  £748 
14s.  7d.  3,  of  wliichthe  building  committee  had  received  only  £730 
9s.  2d.  3,  while  he  balance  had  been  charged  twice  to  them. 
The  town  voted  that  this  overcharge  of  £18  .5s.  5d.  be  paid  to  the 
building  conunittee  with  interest  for  four  years,  and  receipts  in 
full  were  exchanged.  As  the  cost  of  the  house  is  given  in  the 
records  as  £1,054  9s.  2d.  1,  we  suppose  the  cost  of  preparing  the 
land,  etc. ,  must  be  included  in  this  amount. 

lu  1806  the  porch  at  the  east  end  of  the  meeting-house  was  ex- 
alted into  a  belfiy.  to  contain  a  clock  and  boll  which  had  been 
presented  to  the  parish.  This  addition  cost  $1,462.44.  The  bell 
and  clock  cost  $745. 

Further  than  this  simple  item  of  cost  we  have  been  unable  to 
go.  The  volume  of  parish  records  of  the  proper  date  has  evaded 
our  search  and  that  of  the  committee.  In  some  change  of  clerks 
it  failed  of  a  passage  to  the  olhco  of  the  new  incumbent,  and  the 
names  of  the  donor  or  donors  of  the  clock  and  bell  must  remain 
undiscovered.  Though  both  clock  and  bell  hve  to  tell  the  hours 
upon  the  new  church,  they  do  not  tick  a  hint  of  theii'  historj-. 

The  house  remained  thus  furnished  and  unaltered  until  1840. 
But  it  passed  through  an  experience  with  the  painters  in  1830, 
which  deserves  a  sentence.  AV^hile  the  workmen  were  painting- 
the  belfty  the  bell  became  quite  seriously  bespattered.  It  oc- 
curred to  some  bright  genius  to  comiilete  the  accident  by  covering 
the  bell  all  over  with  paint.  Of  course  the  sound  was  fatall}' 
smothered.  There  was  supposed  to  be  no  remedy  Init  to  trans- 
port it  to  the  foundry  in  exchange  for  a  new  one.  Advantage  was 
taken  to  procure  a  heavier  bell.  The  bill  of  Mr.  Holbrook,  of 
East  Medway,  shows  the  following  facts :  — 

Bell  of  1,041  lbs.  at  30  cts.  and  yoke  at  S6.00 S318  30 

Cr.  by  old  bell  of  890  lbs.  at  20  cts 178  00 


$140  30 
Dated  28tli  Jan.,  1831. 

A  subscription  of  §1.52.13  overcovered  this  balance. 

That  new  bell  still  swings  in  the  steeple  of  the  present  Congre- 
gational church.  The  old  bell,  after  a  slight  sweltering,  to  remove 
its  useless  jacket  of  paint,  came  forth  as  good  as  new,  and  now 


ADDENDA.  95- 

tells  its   old  tales  of  gladness  and  sj-mpathj-  to  the  people  of 
Paxton. 

The  tastes  of  the  people  having-  outgrown  the  old  square  pews, 
and  desires  haAing  arisen  for  a  good  front  look  at  the  new  pastor, 
Southworth.  a  movement  was  begun  in  1840  to  transform  the  inte- 
rior into  modern  slips,  all  fixciug  the  pulpit.  Bnt  as  one  change 
frequent!}-  involves  another,  it  was  decided  to  move  the  building 
itself  to  a  site  ••  about  eighty  feet "  further  noi'th  (where  it  now 
stands)  and  to  change  its  front  to  the  south,  so  that  none  could 
easily  tell  whether  they  had  been  revolved  or  no.  The  work  was 
begun  the  daj'  following  the  funeral  of  the  pastor  who  first  occu- 
pied the  house  after  its  dedication  in  1788.  On  the  Sabbath  fol- 
lowing. 4th  October,  1840,  the  congregation  occupied  the  hall  of 
the  academ\-,  and  continued  to  do  so  until  the  completion  of  the 
alterations  in  their  sanctuary  in  January,  1842. 

The  total  expenses  of  this  transfonnation,  as  near  as  can  be 
ascertained,  was  $2,083.05,  towards  which  the  church  fund  con- 
tributed S231.36,  and  indi^■idual  subscriptions  furnished  the  bal- 
ance, $1,722  being  given  by  the  central  school  district.  In  1856 
the  interior  walls  were  frescoed. 

Upon  the  completion  of  the  present  meeting-house  of  the 
Congregational  Society,  their  fonner  house  was  sold  to  the  Catholic 
church.  The  last  sermon  in  it  was  preached  by  Rev.  L.  Keene, 
the  pastor,  31st  December,  1871,  from  ii  Cor..  4  :  18  and  5:1.  In 
that  sermon  it  was  stated,  among  many  other  interesting  remi- 
niscences, that  S13,3G2.63  had  been  expended  on  the  house,  and 
that  in  its  eighty-four  years  of  occupancy  there  had  been  8,736 
Sabbath  sennons,  584  admissions  to  the  church,  and  about  900 
infant  baptisms  under  the  officiating  of  thirteen  ministers  — besides 
the  uncounted  other  sei-vices,  joyous  and  sad,  scenes  of  anxious 
praj-er  and  of  rejoicing  in  revivals  wide  and  deep,  which  conse- 
crate the  house  of  worship  and  enshrine  it  amongst  our  holiest 
and  tenderest  recollections. 

THE   NE-(V   CONGEEGATIONAI,   CHURCH. 

The  rapid  increase  of  the  town  in  population  and  resources  dur- 
ing and  after  the  war  rendered  the  old  house,  even  with  its  modi- 
fications, behind  the  apparent  demands  of  the  times.  The  project 
of  a  new  house  was  so  seriously  agitated  and  so  strongly  advo- 


■96  HISTORY   OP    FKANKLIN. 

cated  by  the  new  pastor,  Rev.  L.  Kcene,  that  successful  measures 
were  adopted  to  carr}-  this  purpose  into  etfect.  A  site  was  pur- 
chased bordering  the  southeast  corner  of  the  Common,  and  work 
■was  begun  and  pushed  to  an  early  completion.  The  building 
committee  were  Messrs.  Davis  Thayer,  .)r.,  Henry  M.  C4reene, 
Albert  E.  Daniels,  O.  A.  Stanley,  Dr.  George  King,  E.  H.  Sher- 
man, and  Frank  W.  Ray  —  John  Stephens  architect,  and  Hanson 
&  Ilunniwell  of  Somerville  builders. 

The  dimensions  of  the  main  building  are  100  bj-  60  feet,  audi- 
ence-room 60  bj'  80  feet  and  29  feet  high,  chapel  attached  to  tlie 
rear,  45  by  55  feet,  two  wings  25  by  14  feet,  height  of  steeple 
164  feet;  whole  cost  of  the  house  furnished,  S36,000.  It  has  650 
sittings  in  the  main  audience-room,  and  100  in  the  gallery.  The 
•chapel  will  seat  500,  and  the  dining-hall  400.  The  edifice  was  dedi- 
cated 4th  January,  1872,  Rev.  Mr.  Keeue,  the  pastor,  preaching 
from  John,  12  :  5.  The  sermon  was  afterwards  printed  in  his  me- 
morial volume. 

■\Vith  the  increase  of  the  business  of  the  town  came  in  a  rapid 
increase  of  its  population.  Not  only  was  the  original  sanctuary 
too  small  for  the  growing  members,  but  a  diversitj-  of  faith  and  of 
modes  of  worship  naturally  followed  with  the  incomers.  Hence 
came  a  movement  for  other  houses  of  worship. 

Brief  histories  of  these  churches  have  been  kindly  furnished  by 
their  several  present  pastors,  which  are  here  inserted  as  given  to 
me,  in  the  order  of  their  dates. 

SOt-'TH    rR.iNKLIN    COKGREGATIONAL  CHURCH. 

The  scattered  families  of  this  section  have  alwaj's  found  it 
laborious  to  attend  meeting  from  two  to  four  miles  at  the  Center. 
But  their  fewness  forbade  a  hopeful  undertaking  of  separate  wor- 
ship. But  the  funeral  of  a  young  woman  in  1855  called  in  the  at- 
tendance of  Rev.  Joseph  N.  Thayer,  of  Mendou,  of  whose  congre- 
gation she  was.  The  interest  on  that  occasion  prompted  him  to 
appoint  a  meeting  soon  after  in  the  school-house.  The  presence 
of  many  seldom  seen  in  any  house  of  worship  suggested  a  contin- 
uance of  appointments  through  the  summer  on  alternate  weeks. 
A  Sunday-school  was  formed,  and  a  library  procured  from  friends. 
The  interest  so  increased  as  to  suggest  the  formation  of  a  church. 

A  council  was  called  30th  August,  1855.  at  the  house  of  Wil- 


Congregational   Church,  Main    Street. 


ADDENDA.  97 

lard  C.  Whiting.  The  churches  in  Medway,  North  AVrontham, 
and  Blaekstone  were  represented,  llev.  John  Dwight  of  Xorth 
AVrenthani  was  chosen  moderator,  and  Eev.  Mr.  Tappan  of 
Bhiekstone  scribe,  and  the  council  adjourned  for  two  weeks  for 
further  deliberation.  Scjiteniber  13,  the  additional  churches  in 
Jlendon,  West  Medway,  and  FrankUn.  not  previously  present, 
appeared,  and  a  church  was  organized  of  eighteen  members.  Oc- 
tober 5.  Artenias  Barden  and  Willard  C.  AVhiting  were  elected 
deacons.  In  March  following,  subscriptions  were  started  towards 
building  a  meeting-house,  and  $1,500  were  secured.  Two  lots  of 
land  were  given,  one  In"  Dea.  W.  C.  Whiting,  another  by  B.  Fos- 
ter. The  latter  site  was  selected  by  a  majority  of  one  vote,  and 
the  first  stake  driven  June  7.  September  .'i,  the  corner-stone  was 
laid  by  services  from  Revs.  S.  Hunt  and  .T.  Merrill,  and  an  original 
h>"mu  bj'  "Sirs.  Lnther  Dean.  The  first  blow  on  the  house  was 
struck  by  carpenter  Charles  T.  Shaw,  and  the  house  was  dedicated 
25th  July,  1857,  Rev.  Mr.  Hunt  preaching  the  sermon.  Deacon 
Barden  died  27th  November,  1856  ;  James  P.  Pond  was  elected 
1st  July,  1858.  On  his  removal  to  Medway,  Paul  B.  Clark  was 
chosen  in  his  place,  1st  Januarj-,  1869. 

This  church  is  still  compelled  to  receive  aid  from  the  Home 
Missionary  Society  and  has  had  no  settled  pastor,  but  has  been 
supplied  by  acting  pastors,  as  follows :  Joseph  N.  Thayer,  Wil- 
liam 31.  Thaj-er,  J.  K.  Dewing,  Sumner  Clark.  Dr.  Ebenezer  Bur- 
gess, R.  Carver,  J.  N.  Walker,  J.  MerrDl. 

OBACE    CHURCH    (itnIVERSALIST)    PARISH. 

In  September,  1856,  a  petition  was  presented  to  S.  B.  Scott,  a 
justice  in  Franklin,  to  call  a  meeting  in  the  Town  Hall,  for  the 
purpose  of  organizing  a  Universalist  parish.  The  petition  was 
signed  by  Alfred  Knapp.  Goldsburj-  Pond,  Jr.,  M.  D.  Lincoln, 
F.  B.  Ray,  Benjamin  Frost,  Arnold  J.  Newell,  James  P.  Ray,  and 
Alfred  Clark.  A  formal  organization  was  eflected  under  this  call 
on  October  4th.     The  p.irish  was  organized  upon  the  following 

PROFESSION    OF    FAITH. 

1.  We  believe  there  is  one  God  whose  nature  is  love,  and  the 
Bible,  harmonizing  with  nature  and  reason,  contains  a  revelation 

7 


98 


HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 


ol'  Mis  I'lianictur,  luuiiit'csted    in   our   Lord  .Icsus  Christ,  who  will 
liiiallv  restore  all  mankind  to  Holiness  and  Iiap|iiness. 

2.  We  believe  that  virtue  and  hapi)iness,  vice  and  misery,  are 
inseparalily  connected  as  cause  and  effect,  and  that  consequently 
in  order  to  be  happy  men  lunst  do  justly,  love  mercy,  and  walk 
humbly  with  God. 

To  this  profession  a  long  list  of  names  were  ai)pended,  embrac- 
ing some  of  tiie  leading  citizens  of  the  town.     Under  the  inspira- 


ttRACE    OHUKCH,    MAIN   STREET. 

tion  of  a  generous  ofl'er  from  the  late  Oliver  Dean,  il.  D.  —  from  the 
first  au  earnest  co-worker  with  the  parish  of  which  he  was  a  mem- 
ber until  his  death  —  it  was  determined  to  bnild  a  chnrcli  iu  1857. 
Previous  to  this  time  the  congregation  liad  worshipped  iu  the 
Town  Hall.  This  church  was  erected  on  the  ground  immediately 
in  front  of  the  magnificent  edifice  uow  owned  by  the  parish  on 
Main  street.  It  was  consecrated  •■)th  Alay,  lcS58.  The  cost,  in- 
dependent of  the  land,  was  something  over  $7,01)0.     This  house 


ADDENDA.  99 

was  occupied  by  the  parifsh  until  .liiiic,  l.'^74,  wlioii  it  was  sold  to 
the  Baptists,  who  iviiiDved  it  to  Scliool  street,  and  now  occupj'  it. 
In  1873  the  parish  began  the  erection  of  its  present  edifice,  called 
"  Grace  Church,"  certainly  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  perfectly 
appointed  houses  of  worship  to  be  found  in  any  town  in  New  Eng- 
land. Its  co.st  was  at)out  $28, ObO.  A  view  is  given  on  tlie  pre- 
ceding page. 

There  was  no  settled  pastor  until  1858.  Tlien  the  Rev.  A.  N. 
Adams  was  called.  He  was  installed  on  the  day  the  lirst  chiu'ch 
was  consecrated.  His  resignation  took  effect  in  1861).  Early  in 
1861,  the  Kev.  X.  li.  Wright  became  pastor,  and  resigned  1862. 
He  was  succeeded  by  tlie  Rev.  S.  W.  SQunsE,  whose  pastorate  ex- 
tended from  the  fall  of  1862  to  the  fall  of  1866.  JMr.  Squire  was 
followed  in  a  few  mouths  by  Rev.  H.  1).  L.  Webster,  when,  in  the 
fall  of  1867,  the  Rev.  Riciiard  Eddy  became  pastor,  resigning"  iu 
1869.  The  parish,  after  ))eing  without  a  pastor  for  nearly  three 
years,  succeeded  in  obtaining  the  services  of  the  present  incum- 
bent, Rev.  A.  St.  John  Chambrk,  Doctor  of  Divinity  in  1878,  who 
was  installed  1st  July,  1872.  Under  his  administration  the  par- 
ish has  grown  strong,  and  ranks  second  to  none  in  the  town. 

A  "church,"  that  is,  a  body  of  communicants,  was  organized 
immediately  upon  the  accession  of  tlie  Rev.  Mr.  Adams  to  the 
pastorate,  in  1858.  This  church  is  now  vigorous,  having  a  large 
number  of  communicants,  to  whom  the  sacraments  are  duly  ad- 
ministered. There  is  also  a  .Sunday-school,  and  all  other  auxiliary 
associations  which  assist  iu  making  a  living  parish,  and  in  advanc- 
ing the  cause  and  glory  of  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  C'hrist. 

Between  this  parish  and  all  other  parishes  in  this  village  there 
are  the  most  friendly  Christian  harmonies  and  interchange  of  fra- 
ternal courtesies. 

THE    IIKST    UAI'TIST    CHCRCH 

in  Franklin  was  organized  in  1868,  with  thirteen  members,  and 
was  recognized  the  same  year  by  a  council  from  churches  wdthin 
the  bounds  of  the  Boston  North  and  South  Baptist  Association. 
Rev.  J.  Vf.  HoLMAN,  M.  D.,  was  the  first  pastor.  The  church 
at  this  time  held  their  religious  services  iu  the  Town  Hall.  Dr. 
Holman  was  a  man  of  kindly  social  bearing,  an  acceptable  and 
interesting  preacher,  and  soon  gathered  a  good  congregation  of 


100 


HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 


hearers.  His  pastorate  was  Inief.  Rev.  Daniel  Rounds  succeeded 
Mm.  During  his  pastorate,  a  neat  chapel  was  built  on  East  street. 
Here  tlie  little  church  for  a  season  gave  every  evidence  of  pros- 
perity iu  eulargeil  nu'iuliership,  in  both  the  congregation  and  Sun- 
day-school. But  Hiitbitnuatc  dirt'erences  and  consequent  aliena- 
tion culniiiiatod  in  the  n'siguatiun  of  Mr.  Rounds,  who  had  labored 
hard  and  faithfullv  for  tlie  estalilishment  and  growth  of  the  church. 


BAPTIST   CHURCH. 

Rev.  George  W.  Ryan  was  called  to  the  pastorate  of  the  church 
in  May,  1873.  The  year  following,  the  church  edifice  in  which  they 
now  worship  was  purchased  of  the  First  Uuiversalist  Society  iu 
Frankhn.  The  Ijuilding  was  moved  to  School  street  and  altera- 
tions and  improvements  made. 


CATHOLIC    llHUKCH. 

Previous  to  the  year  1S48,  there  were  no  Roman  Catholics  in  the 
town  of  Franklin.  In  tlie  year  following,  however,  two  famiUes 
took  up  their  residence  here,  and  shortly  after  a  number  of  em- 
ploj-ees  of  the  Norfolk  Railroad  Company  became  permanent  res- 
idents iu  the  town. 

The  fir.st  Mass  celebrated  in  the  town  was  bj'  Rev.  C.  O'Riley, 


ADDENDA. 


101 


ill  a  house  on  Lincoln  street,  now  the  residence  of  J.  L.  Fitzpat- 
rick,  and  was  attended  by  only  five  worshipers.  In  1851  the 
Catholics  l^ecame  more  numerous  and  were  gratuitously  allowed 
the  use  of  the  Town  Hall  for  Divine  services,  which  were  con- 
ducted monthly  bj-  Rev.  M.  X.  Carroll  of  Foxboro,  until  1862, 
when  he  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  M.  M'Cabe  of  Woonsocket,  R.  1., 


CATHOLIC   CHURCH. 


wlio  also  gave  monthly  attendance  for  aljoiit  a  year.  From  that 
time  until  1872,  Rev.  P.  Gillio  of  Attleboro  gave  occasional  at- 
tendance. 

In  1871  the  building  known  as  the  Old  Congregational  church 
was  purchased  by  a  few  zealous  Catholics  of  the  town  and  deeded 


102  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

bj'  Davis Tliaycr,  .Ii-..  to  J.  L.  Fitzpatrick,  and  by  the  latter  trans- 
ferred to  Right  Rev.  .1.  .1.  WilUams,  now  Archbishop  of  Boston. 

From  1872  until  the  fall  of  1870  the  Rev.  F'k.vncis  Gouessk  of 
Walpole  had  charge  of  the  jiarish,  but  the  Clatholies  becoming  so 
numerous,  and  all  chunli  indebtedness  being  removed,  it  was 
deemed  expedient  to  ajjply  tor  a  resident  pastor,  who  was  supplied 
in  the  person  of  Rev.  J.  Gkii-'fin,  who  came  in  February,  1877. 

Under  Father  Griflin's  care  many  improvements  are  being  made. 
A  parsonage  is  in  course  of  erection,  and  at  no  distant  day  the 
church  will  have  to  be  enlarged,  as  it  is  at  present  many  times 
tilled  to  excess. 

M KTI lODIST    CII IRCH . 

The  Methodist  church  in  Franklin  owes  its  existence  largel}'  to 
the  self-sacritice  and  perseverance  of  Rev.  E.  P.  King.  Though 
not  the  first  Methodist  minister  whc3  preached  in  the  town,  yet  he 
was  the  first  to  organize  and  gi\e  permanency  to  the  work. 

In  the  year  18.53  a  Methodist  meeting  was  first  started  in  the 
Town  Hall  by  Rev.  .Toiix  M.  jMerrill.  He  came  with  the  intention 
of  building  up  a  church,  if  possible,  and  his  efforts  were  attended- 
with  considerable  success.  During  the  two  j-ears  that  ho  remained 
he  gathered  quite  a  large  congregation.  But  the  work  took  no 
very  deep  root.  Only  a  ver}-  few  of  the  congregation  were  really 
INIethodists.  and  of  course  were  not  specially  interested  in  the 
founding  of  a  Methodist  church.  Indeed,  there  seems  to  have 
been  no  attempt  at  organization. 

In  1855  Rev.  Pi.inv  Wood  took  charge  of  the  work.  He  re- 
mained one  3'ear,  and  kept  the  work  up  pretty  well  during  his  pas- 
torate, though  he  found  some  difficulty  in  harmonizing  the  different 
elements  of  liis  congregation.  In  1850  Rev.  M.  P.  "Webster  came 
into  the  field,  and  while  he  seems  to  have  labored  earnestly  the 
difficulties  of  the  work  so  multiplied  that  he  was  utterly  unable  to 
meet  them.  Under  his  supervision  the  enterprise  ran  rapidly  down, 
so  that  the  Conference  judged  it  expedient,  in  1857,  to  give  up 
the  work. 

But  in  the  spring  of  1871  Dr.  Williaji  R.  Clark,  then  Presid- 
ing Elder  of  the  Boston  District  New  England  Conference,  and 
Rev.  William  Merrill  of  West  INIed way  again  started  a  Methodist 
meeting  in  the  Town  Ilali.     In   November  of  the  same   vear  Dr. 


ADDENDA. 


103 


Clark  sent  Rev.  Jihin  R.  ("i>iiin(;.  :i  theological  stiuleut  in  Boston 
to  take  charge.  He  organized  a  Siniclay-school  and  gathered  a 
good  congregation  during  the  lew  months  that  he  remained.  Fu 
April,  1872,  the  New  England  Conference  sent  Eev.  E.  V.  King  to 
the  town.  He  aimed  from  the  first  to  establish  a  church  as  soon 
as  possible.     On   the   9th  of  September.    1.S72,   he   organized    a 


METHODIST  CHURCH. 


church  of  thirteen  members  (three  men  and  ten  women)  and  pro- 
ceeded at  once  to  solicit  funds  for  liiiilding  a  liouse  of  worship,  of 
which  he  laid  the  corner-stone  3d  October,  1872.  lie  pushed  the 
work  so  rapidlj-  forward  that  he  held  services  in  the  chapel  of  the 
new  building  on  the  second  Sunday  of  March.  1873.  and  offered 
the  house  for  dedication  2.")th  June.  A  noted  revival  began  in 
March  preceding  and  continued  througliout  the  year.     Over  two 


104  HISTORY   OF   FRANKLIN. 

huudred  professed  conversion,  of  -n-hom  the  church  swelled  its 
membership  to  sixty-six  and  gained  a  strong  hold  in  the  town. 

In  April,  1874,  after  two  j-ears  of  successful  work,  Mr.  King 
was  taken  to  another  field,  and  Rev.  J.  X.  Short  became  pastor 
of  the  church,  which  position  he  held  for  three  years.  During 
that  time  the  church  steadily  increased  in  membership  and  infl.u- 
ence,  though  consideraljl}'  crijipled  I33"  the  financial  embarrass- 
ments of  the  country.  In  April,  1877,  Rev.  George  ^X.  IIudsoi<i 
became  pastor  of  the  church.  He  reports  a  membership  of  87. 
a  Sunday-school  of  12  ofilcers  and  teachers,  and  120  scholars,  and 
church  property  of  $10,000. 

A  few  persons  in  town  who  are  of  the  "  New  Jerusalem  Church  " 
—  Swedenborgiaii  —  have  held  meetings  for  religious  worship  con- 
stantly during  the  last  seventeen  years  at  the  house  of  J.  A. 
Woodward.  Thej-  are,  most  of  them,  members  of  the  Boston 
Society,  and  are  not  yet  organized  here  into  a  distinct  church. 

XII.       JIIXISTERIAL    FITND. 

It  was  the  policy  of  the  fathers  at  the  first  settlement  of  the 
country  to  }ir(_ivide  for  the  permanency  of  the  ministry.  The_y  set 
apart  land  for  its  support  and  added  special  donations  from  time 
to  time  —  sometimes  by  nuiiiicipal  vote,  sometimes  by  private  leg- 
acy. The  history  of  the  ministerial  finid  of  Franklin  is  not  fully 
traceable,  but  the  few  scattered  facts  following  have  interest,  as 
showing  the  estimate  in  which  the  moral  culture  of  this  community 
was  held  by  the  fathers. 

In  March,  1784,  it  was  voted  that  "the  old  Continental  money 
and  the  new  Emission  money  in  the  town  ti'easury  be  appropriated 
for' to  raise  a  fund  for  the  support  of  a  minister  in  this  town  for- 
ever." 

May  10  it  was  voted  "  to  begin  to  lay  a  foundation  for  raising 
a  fund  of  money  the  interest  whereof  to  be  appropriated  for  the 
support  of  a  Protestant  Congregational  minister  in  this  town  for- 
e^'er."  They  also  chose  a  committee  of  five  to  receive  donations 
in  behalf  of  the  town. 

The  moneys  liinted  at  in  tlie  town  treasurj'  seem  to  have  come 
from  several  sources.  In  the  partition  of  "Wrentham  the  old 
town  funds  were  agreed  to  be  divided  between  the  two  parishes 
according  to  the  latest  tax-list.     These  funds  had  arisen  partly 


ADDENDA.  105 

from  the  sale  of  lands  given  to  the  corporation  by  the  proprietors, 
partly,  luayhe,  from  the  interest  of  certain  notes  held  from  the 
Province  from  the  earlier  times,  and,  possibly,  in  part  from  the 
balance  of  pa}'  to  the  Representatives  of  the  General  Court ;  for, 
with  wise  economy,  the  precinct  had  fixed  the  ^)ev  diem  paj'  of  its 
representative  from  time  to  time,  and  had  ordered  him  to  paj* 
into  the  precinct  treasur}-  whatever  he  received  from  the  Colony. 
His  pay  was  at  first  6s.  per  day,  afterwards  4s.  6d.  What  he 
received  from  the  General  Court  is  not  stated. 

But  the  fund  so  increased  bj-  thrifty  husbandry  that  the  treas- 
urer was  soon  able  to  present  quite  an  exhibit.  The  earliest  state- 
ment found  is  dated  2d  March,  1792,  and  is  as  follows  :  — 

Bills  of  new  Emission  money,  81,001.  which  is £327    6s. 

Note  for  $400  in  new  Emission  bills 120 

One  state  note  consolidated 10  15s.  4d. 

7  years'  interest  due  1  April  next  on  sd  note 4  10s.  5d. 

1  Loan  ofRce  note,  6  pr  ct.  stock.  S227.3S fiS    .3s.  Sd. 

((5  niontlis'  interest  on  sd  note  pd. ) 

1  Loan  office  note  for  Sll;!.(i4,  interest  deferred 34    2s. 

1  state  note  for  £.54  2s.  (id.,  dated  1  Jan.,  1701,  tliird  part  pd 
in  cash,  together  with  the  interest,  1  Jan.  1702  ;  re- 
mains due  on  sd  note,  the  sum  of 36    Is.  8d. 

Cash  on  hand,  in  the  treasury 24  lis.  6d. 

The  total  is  not  given  in  the  report  and  ibr  good  reason ;  for 
these  State  notes  and  Emission  Idlls  gave  the  town  no  small 
ti'ouble.  and  their  fluctuating  value  prevented  any  relialde  estimate 
of  the  amount  of  the  ministerial  fund.  In  1796  the  town  pre- 
sented a  petition  to  the  General  Court  that  it  ••pa_ythe  bills  of 
New  Emission  &  the  Treasurer's  note  as  promised  bv  Act  of  24 
April.  1780,  &  to  be  redeemed  in  silver  by  31  Nov.  1786."  But 
they  had  leave  to  withdraw,  not  the  money,  but  themselves,  and 
nothing  more  is  recorded  of  the  matter  until  1800.  June  25  of 
this  year  the  treasurer  reports  the  full  account  of  the  fund  to  date 
to  be  -S760.5S,  besides  some  interest,  also  the  Emission  bills  for 
$1,091,  note  in  new  Emission  $400  —  discount  and  deficit  of 
S89.92. 

A  vigorous  instruction  was  given  to  the  Representative,  which 
was  ordered  to  be  printed  in  -'Young  &  Mime's  State  paper," 
whatever  that  was.  A  report  on  this  new  Emission  matter  was 
also  presented,  which  saj's  :  — 


106  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

TheGencralCouitiiiMay.  1781,  levied  a  tax  of  £374,795  8s.  201. 
on  the  towns.  Franklin  yot  an  abatement  of  £205  6s.  5(1.,  equal 
to  $084,40.  Hard  money  was  so  needed  that  the  State  ordered 
Bills  to  he  emitted  at  1|-  paper  for  one  of  silver,  which  bill  was 
passed  a  month  after  the  Bills,  stopping  passing,  and  therefore 
were  only  security  for  payment.  But  Goverinnent  made  no  pro- 
vision for  payment  until  17'.)4,  and  then  at  one-cpiarter  the  nomi- 
nal value,  while  other  securities  were  funded  at  full  value.*  The 
town  received  about  1284  paper  dollars  for  G84  of  silver,  and  if 
their  bills  were  funded  according  to  the  funding  law  of  1794,  it 
would  have  a  note  of  $321  and  interest,  and  lose  $303  and  inter- 
est for  18  years. 

In  May,  1803,  the  town  sold  the  Emission  bills.  State  note,  etc., 
to  John  Wliiting  for  an  unmentioned  amount,  when  the  fund  was 
reported  to  be  §1,820.03.  In  :May.  1804,  it  was  $1.427.15i.  In 
March,  1806,  it  was  voted  to  sell  all  tlie  0  per  cent,  stock  in  the 
Loan  office,  Boston. 

Upon  the  separation  of  parochial  business  from  the  town  atfairs  in 
1804,  the  ministerial  fund  disappears  from  the  records  and  hides 
itself  .almost  entirely  from  sight.  Our  next  glimpse  of  it  is  in  a 
deed  of-  twenty-six  acres  of  land  by  measurement"  lying  in  Leices- 
ter, Addison  county,  Vt.,  dated  15th  June,  1813,  and  valued  at 
S91G.  The  deed  is  from  John  Whiting  of  P^ranklin  to  the  First 
Congregational  Society  of  Franklin,  and  is  quitclaimed  to  the 
parish  11th  April,  1814,  by  Joseph  Capron  of  Leicester,  Vt. 
This  land  proved  somewhat  of  an  elephant  to  the  parish.  A  fre- 
quent correspondence  was  carried  on  between  Harvy  Deming  of 
Salisbury  and  II.  C.  Fisher  of  the  parish  committee.  The  former 
seems  to  have  been  agent  for  the  sale  of  the  land,  andlinally  takes 
it  him.self,  but  the  net  proceeds  to  the  parish  are  not  distinctly 
given  —  they  seem  to  have  been  about  $450. 

The  records  of  the  church  throw  some  additional  hght  upon  this 
fund,  for  the  chm-ch  had  been  a  contributor  to  the  same  end.j 
In  1790,  November  25,  the  church  committee  is  authorized  to  re- 

*The  town  records  refer  to  Rev.  Dr.  Hemminway's  election  sermon  of  17.S4, 
for  its  facts  and  arguments. 

t  As  early  as  17(il  the  first  church  in  Wrentham  had  given  to  the  second 
church  several  acres  of  the  old  Dedham  lands,  viz.:  twenty-six  acres  on  Blake's 
plain;  thirty-three  acres  south  of  Tare  Briel  Hill;  forty  acres  east  of  Millhrook; 
and  eighteen  and  one-half  acres  east  of  niamond  Hill.  These  lands  were  some 
of  them  exchanged  tor  other  lots  and  finally  sold. 


ADDENDA.  107 

loan  its  money  to  the  United  States  Loan  office  and  deliver  the 
securities  to  the  church  treasurer.  In  1808,  September  21,  the 
church  votes  to  sell  these  securities  to  private  parties.  In  1832  a 
committee  of  the  church  report  tlie  I'und  to  consist  of  nine  notes, 
amounting  to  $617,  on  interest,  and  cash  on  hand  S204.-10.  Total, 
$820.81.  Out  of  this  finid  small  sums  were  from  time  to  time 
appropriated  to  cases  of  special  need ;  for  example,  $100  was 
voted,  19th  May,  1831.  to  Eev.  Mr.  Smalley  '-to  m:\Jve  up  the  sum 
proposed  to  be  raised  by  his  friends  for  his  benefit."  This  was  to 
aid  him  in  building  his  house.  The  whole  fund  was  finally  dis- 
posed of  by  a  vote  of  the  church  7th  September,  1840,  "  to  fur- 
nish the  First  Congregational  parish  with  the  funds  of  the  church, 
amounting  to  $700  and  upwai'ds,  to  be  expended  in  repairing  their 
mccting-house — to  be  rented  for  their  current  expenses,  provided 
the  parish  pay  the  interest  to  Dr.  Emmons  during  his  life,  and  a 
joint  voice  in  the  settlement  and  dismission  of  ministers  and  the 
use  of  the  meeting-house  as  heretofore."  So  ended  all  ministerial 
funds  in  Franklin,  in  securing  the  use  of  the  meeting-house  and  a 
Joint  voice  in  ministerial  (juestions. 

One  idea  of  the  moral  history  of  Franklin  will  lie  ))est  rounded 
out  by  sundry  votes  and  resolves  of  the  churcli,  and  the  town 
passed  at  divers  times  wyxm  the 

XHI.        rLlSl.Tf    .AIORALS. 

As  the  main  intent  of  the  original  settlement  was  the  gathering 
of  a  Christian  community,  the  settlers  sedulously  watched  all  so- 
cial tendencies,  and  felt  it  not  foreign  to  their  duty  to  express 
themselves  positivelj-  upon  the  practices  of  society.  So  long  as 
church  membership  was  essential  to  citizenship  they  could  have- 
control,  and  church  discipline  could  be  vigorously  administered. 
Absentees  from  public  worship  were  called  up  for  self-justification, 
and  all  wanderers  had  to  rise  and  ex|3lain.  Even  the  young  I'uri- 
tans  were  sharply  looked  after.  In  1744,  September  12,  th& 
precinct  chose  a  man  "  to  take  care  of  ye  children  to  prevent  their 
playing  in  meeting"  —  an  office  which  lasted  within  our  recollec- 
tion, and  was  not  a  sinecure  on  summer  days. 

But  the  Kevolutionarj-  War  greatly  aggravated  the  growing  lax- 
ity of  manners,  insonmch  that  a  "  Society  for  the  Reformation  of 
Morals"   was  formed  in   November,  1790,  which  had    its   annual 


108  HISTORY   OF   FRANKLIN. 

sermon.     Several  of  these  were  printed  for  general  circulation,* 
and  not  without  result. 

The  town  took  note  of  the  general  tendency  of  things,  as  the 
following  votes  witness  :  — 

Ma}',  1791.  on  complaint  that  divers  persons  have  from  time  to 
time  Jjehaved  in  a  xevy  unbecoming  manner  by  standing  in  the 
porches  of  the  meeting-house  of  this  town  on  the  Lord's  day  and 
otherways  conducting  in  a  manner  not  only  inconsistent  with  the 
purpose  for  which  they  professedly  assemble,  but  highly  unbecom- 
ing a  person  of  good  lireeding  or  the  character  of  a  gentleman ; 
voted  that  such  conduct  ought  to  be, highly  reproliated  and  dis- 
countenanced Ity  every  sober  man",'aiid  that  they  will  hold  them 
as  scandalous  and  infamous  persons,  and  the  tithing-men  are  to 
take  their  names  and  publicly  expose  them  next  town  meeting, 
and  post  up  this  vote  and  the  names  of  all  future  offenders. f 

The  public  exposure  did  not  wholly  eradicate  the  e^dl,  for  in 
1794,  April  7,  it  was  voted  that  "  all  heads  of  families  be  re- 
quested to  use  their  influence  and  authority  to  all  under  their  care 
to  pass  the  porches  on  the  Saljljath  with  decency  and  propriety, 
without  standing  in  said  porches  and  thereby  prevent  persons 
from  taking  their  seats  in  the  meeting-house." 

One  pro\'ocative  to  that  evil  practice  doubtless  was  the  fact  that 
no  shade  or  shelter,  save  the  horse-sheds,  existed  around  the  old 
meeting-house  to  cover  the  early  comers  to  church,  and  the  social 
instinct  drew  strongly  upon  those  who  seldom  saw  any  one  during 
the  week  to  secure  the  current  gossip  of  the  town.  The  jirelimi- 
nary  waiting,  therefore,  for  "  the  little  man  in  black"  to  drive  up 
to  the  front  door  was  spent  in  retailing  the  news  of  the  week,  and 
"  the  porches"  were  the  most  comfortable  rendezvous.  But  this 
is  a  solution  and  not  an  apolog}-. 

This  outer  disrespect  was  not  excluded  always,  even  when  the 
congregation  had  assembled  into  its  family  boxes.  The  minister 
did  not  always  control  their  attention.  Indeed,  he  felt  that  they 
needed  a  sharper  admonition  than  a  paper  resolve,  and  he  resorted 
to  a  rousing  experiment.     On  the  Sunday  of  July  18,  1790,  while 


*See  Emmou's  Works  (last  ed.)  vol.  v,  p.  23  and  on. 

fThe  town  had  erected  two  posts  in  front  of  the  meeting-liouse  as  .i  perma- 
nent place  tor  all  such  notices,  warrants  for  town  meetings,  etc. — exchanged 
afterwards  for  two  Lombardy  poplars,  unto  one  of  which  Dr.  Emmons  always 
liitched  his  horse  on  Sundays. 


ADDENDA.  109 

the  audience  were  especially  inattentive  and  sleepj',  Dr.  Emmous 
dosed  bis  manuscript,  took  down  his  three-cornered  hat,  and  with- 
out furtlior  premonitions  descended  the  pulpit,  passed  down  tlie 
broad  aisle  and  out  of  the  house  to  his  home.  August  3,  at  a 
church  meeting,  he  explained  his  conduct ;  whereupon  the  clnu-cli 
voted  :  •■  1.  It  is  reasonable  the  pastor  should  insist  upon  ha\ing 
the  proper  attention  of  the  people  in  time  of  public  worship.  2. 
It  is  reasonable  the  church  should  desire  and  endeavor  that  proper 
attention  be  given  in  the  time  of  public  worship  and  discounte- 
nance all  inattention."  Some  years  later,  2',lth  December,  1>!16, 
he  complained  directly  in  a  letter  to  the  church  of  what  he  calls 
'•  a  designed  inattention,"  upon  which  that  body  repeats  its  vote 
of  1790.  The  year  following.  .5tli  May,  1817,  the  town  adopted  the 
following  petition  to  the  State  Legislature  :  — 

The  petition  of  the  town  of  Franklin  sheweth  that  we  your  peti- 
tioners, seriously  impressed  with  a  sense  of  the  indispensible  obli- 
gation of  the  people  in  this  state  to  remember  and  sanctif\'  the 
christian  .Sabbath,  are  fully  couvinced  that  some  etl'eetual  means 
ought  to  be  adopted  and  pursued  to  restrain  them  from  the  external 
and  gross  profanation  of  that  holy  day.  We  concur  in  the  opin- 
ions of  the  respectable  Association  of  ministers  in  the  country  of 
Hampshire,  that  the  present  laws  respecting  the  Sabbath  need  to 
be  revised  and  amended.  We,  therefore,  unite  with  our  fellow 
citizens  who  view  the  subject  in  this  light,  in  respectfully  and 
earnestly  requesting  the  Honorable  Legislature  to  jiass  such  acts 
as  they  shall  deem  necessary  to  promote  the  due  observance  of  the 
Lord's  Day  throughout  the  Commonwealth. 

On  the  gravest  evil  of  society,  the  prevalence  of  intemperance, 
the  church  took  early  and  decided  action.  Dr.  Emmons  was  al- 
ways strictly  abstemious  and  among  the  first  advocates  of  total 
abstinence.  While  the  bottle  of  new  rum  was  regarded  as  a 
necessary  utensil  of  the  haj--fleld,  excessive  drinking  was  confined 
to  a  few  notorious  persons.  Even  these  were  gloriouslj^  drunk 
only  on  occasions  like  the  annual  muster,  election  day,  and  the 
town  meeting.  The  earliest  temperance  lecture  we  recollect  was 
by  a  Mr.  Frost,  who  flUed  the  old  meeting-house  with  an  enthusias- 
tic audience  and  rallied  a  long  file  of  names  to  the  pledge.  But 
there  were  earlier  movements.  Hon.  M.  M.  Fisher  says  in  one  of 
his  "Reminiscences,"  "the  Temperance  pledge  was  signed  as 
early  as  1825,  after  a  lecture  given  in  the  Popolatic  school-house 


110  HISTORY   OF   FRANKLIN. 

by  a  sou  of  Dr.  Beecher.  who  was  visiting  with  his  sister  Catharine 
at  Mr.  Caleb  Fisher's.  Mr.  Fisher  and  Mr.  Elisha  Bullard  with 
others  signed  it,  and  afterwards  deehned  to  furnish  liquor  in  ha\' 
time." 

The  selectmen  in  those  da3-s  "  posted  "  the  names  of  inveterate 
drunkards  to  whom  all  dealers  were  forbidden  to  sell.  The  list  was 
sometimes  fearfullj"  long.  But  the  zeal  of  Drs.  Miller  and  Hunting 
and  others  secured  rapidly  a  wide  change  of  opinion  and  practice, 
so  that  Franklin  became  early,  and  continues  to  be,  a  thorough 
temperance  town. 

XIV.       TOWN    INDLSTRIKS. 

The  means  and  energies  of  the  first  settlers  of  this  territory  were 
devoted  to  the  clearing  of  their  wilderness  farms.  They  had 
neither  time  nor  need  in  their  simple  living  to  turn  themselves  to 
manufactures.  Corn-mills  and  saw-mills  were  their  only  necessity. 
These  they  had  to  buOd  as  soon  as  possible.  The  meeting-house 
first,  and  then  the  corn-mill.  Body  and  soul  could  then  be  fed  for 
other  work. 

The  first  move  in  Wrentham  was  to  grant  twelve  acres  of  land 
at  the  ponds  for  a  corn  water-mill,  which  was  offered  to  Robert 
Grossman,  and  finally,  in  1685,  assumed  by  John  Whiting,  who 
built  a  mill  on  the  site  of  the  present  Eagle  factory.  This  mill 
remained  in  the  line  of  his  descendants  for  over  a  century. 

But  as  the  population  spread  into  the  present  FrankUn  and  be- 
gan to  crystallize  about  a  new  center,  they  sought  for  mill  con- 
veniences nearer  their  homes.  "We  have  not  the  data  for  giving  the 
order  of  progress,  but  the  earliest  move  towards  a  mill  which  we 
have  discovered  was  in  1713  on  Mine  brook. 

In  the  "great  divident"  of  28th  March,  1698,  "  Lott  50  in 
Michael  Willson  Sen.'s  part,  five  acres  are  granted  to  Daniel 
Haws  jun.  on  the  mine  l)rook  below  Thom.as  Thurston  &  above 
the  falls  near  ELeazer  Metcalf:  bounded  by  land  laid  out  to  the 
Wid.  Pond  in  part  northward,  and  coonnon  on  all  other  parts  :  the 
Brook  running  through  it."  Young  Daniel  Hawes  and  his  neigh- 
bor Metcalf  associate  with  others  to  utilize  these  falls  in  Mine 
brook  for  mill  purposes,  and  they  sign  the  following  contract :  — 


ADDENDA.  Ill 

Wkentiiam.  Fi'liriKiry  the  7,  171o. 

^\'e  lioso  nami's  are  lioreunto  siibscrilied  doe  agree  to  l)uild  a 
sawmill  at  the  [itaee  called  the  Minehrook :  Daniel  Haws  none 
quarter,  John  JIaecane  none  iiuarter,  Eleazcr  Metealf  &  Samnel 
Metealf  none  quarter.  Robert  I'ond  Sen.  non  quarter. 

We  doe  covenant  &  agree  as  followes  :  — 

1 .  "We  doe  proniis  that  we  wil  each  of  us  carrj'  on  &  do  our  equal 
proporchon  throught  in  proeurhisi'  of  irones  &  hueing  framing  of  a 
dam  &  mill  &  all  other  labor  throught  so  faire  as  tlie  major  part 
-shall  se  meat  to  doe  till  the  mill  lie  finished  throught  and  made  tit 
for  to  goe  then  to  com  to  a  reckoning. 

2.  We  do  a  gre  that  all  of  us  shall  liave  lilierty  for  to  work  out 
his  proporsion  of  work  &  in  case  aney  none  of  us  neglect  to  carry 
on  his  jiart  of  said  mill  the  rest  of  the  owners  to  carr}'  on  said 
work  till  it  be  done  iX:  fit  to  saw  &  he  that  neglects  to  carry  on  his 
part  of  said  mill  shall  pay  half  a  crown  a  day  to  the  rest  of  the 
owners  that  did  said  work. 

3.  We  du  agre  that  said  land  shall  ly  for  a  nnll  pond  see  long  as 
the  m.ajor  part  shall  se  fit.  Wo  du  all  so  agre  that  uo  uon  shall 
sell  his  part  of  said  mill  till  he  has  first  mad  a  tender  to  the  rest 
of  the  owners.  We  du  al  so  agre  that  uo  non  shal  sel  his  part  in 
the  land  til  he  hes  tenderd  it  to  the  rest  of  the  owners. 

Signed  sealed  &  delivered  Roiiakt  Pond 

in  the  presence  of  Daniel  Haws 

P^ZRA  lV)Ni>  John  Maccane 

Jonathan  Wright  Eli:asek  Metcale 

^  '"'*  -r.  Samuel  Metcalf 

RoHERT  +  Fond 

mark. 

On  the  back  is  the  still  further  agreement :  — 

to  lay  out  each  man's  loot  as  they  are  drawn  —  the  first  loot  is 
to  be  gin  four  foot  from  the  uiiper  sil  of  the  streak  sil  and  soe  up 
unto  the  iud  of  the  sleapers,  and  to  devid  it  equal  in  to  fower  loots 
&  from  the  sleapers  towards  the  road  so  as  not  to  interrupt  the 
road. 

Robart  Pond  Daniel  Haws 

Jc>HN  Maccane  Eleazek  Metc.\.lf 

Samuel  Metcalk  Daniel  Tiiltiston 

March  the  7. 
1717 

The  saw-mill  so  built  stood  where  Joseph  AV'hiting  afterwards 
liad  a  mill,  and  where  one  of  the  numerous  felting  mills  of  the 
Ray  brothei-s  now  stands. 

In  the  lajdng  out  of  a  sun-eyor's  district  29th  May,  1736,  there 
are  other  mills  in  town  mentioned  —  "  the  rron  works"  (which  we 


112  HISTORY   OF   FRANKLIN. 

locate  on  Mine  brook  near  the  foot  of  Forge  Hill),  "Benjamin 
Morse's  saw-mill,"  and  "Adams'  corn-mill"  (which  last  was  at 
Citj'  MUls) .  But  these  were  hardly  manufactories.  Only  the  arts 
necessary  to  farming  got  ain'  footing  in  the  town  until  the  begin- 
ning of  the  present  century,  when  a  new  iudustr}'  was  introduced 
which  has  had  an  important  influence  upon  the  character  and 
prosperity  of  the  town. 

The  braiding  and  making  of  straw  into  bonnets  came  from 
Providence,  R.  I.  Capt.  John  Whipple  had  a  store  in  that  city, 
in  which  his  wife,  Naomi,  had  also  a  small  millinery  sliop.  Her 
bonnets  came  through  New  York  from  Europe.  Mrs.  Whipple 
and  her  assistant,  Hannah  Metcalf,  unraveled  a  scrap  of  the  braid 
one  da^'  and  learned  the  secret  of  its  fabric.  Procuring  some  straw 
they  successfully  imitated  the  braid,  and  soon  after  made  and  sent 
a  box  of  her  own  lionnets  to  her  New  York  importer.  The  trade 
grew  rapidly,  so  profitable  was  it,  and  other  Providence  ladies 
learned  tlie  process.  In  the  summer  of  1799  several  Providence 
girls  came  to  a  boarding-school  in  Massachusetts,  wearing  their 
home-made  bonnets,  which  created  no  little  excitement.  One  of 
them,  Sally  llichmond,  came  to  Wrentham  academj'.  She  knew 
the  art  and  taught  it  to  the  ladies  where  slie  lioarded.  Thus  was 
straw-braiding  introduced  to  this  State  through  Wrentham,  and 
naturally  spread  next  into  this  town. 

The  first  bonnets  were  nmde  of  oat  straw  flattened,  and  con- 
tahied  from  sixteen  to  eighteen  yards  of  wide  Dunstable.  So 
mightily  did  the  novelty  take  that  no  girl  was  considered  of  the 
ton  without  one.  The  fashion  gave  a  vigorous  impulse  to  the  trade 
and  the  sale  of  straw  bonnets  spread  through  the  laud. 

The  Wrentham  ladies  in  1804  bought  an  organ  for  their  church 
by  contribution  of  straw  bonnets,  which  were  sold  by  their  agent 
in  Maine  and  with  no  small  profit  to  himself.* 

One  result  of  the  sudden  nprise  of  this  new  industry  was  a 
gi-eat  addition  to  the  business  of  small  trading  stores.  They  sold 
their  goods  in  exchange  for  straw-braid.  The  stock  so  accumu- 
lated they  soon  began  to  convert  into  bonnets,  and  this  led  to 
special  manufactories  for  straw  goods.     Fisher  &  Day,  of  Wrent- 

*  This  organ  was  moved  from  its  "proper  and  conspicuous  place"  in  1823, 
into  one  of  the  back  pe\¥S,  and  Dr.  James  Mann  wrote  a  eulogy  upon  the  whole 
"  atchievement,"  which  was  printed  in  the  Norfolk  Kepositorij,  1S04. 


ADDENDA.  113 

ham,  first  entered  into  this  business  in  1804.  In  1810  Asa  and 
Davis  Thayer  opened  a  store  in  Franklin  at  the  City  Mills,  seUing 
their  straw  braid  received  for  goods  to  Fisher,  Day  &  Co.  About 
1812  the}-  bought  the  Adams  store  near  the  Center,  and  re-estab- 
lished themselves  much  more  largely,  manufacturing  their  own 
bonnets  in  shapes  and  styles  of  their  own.  This  was  the  second 
straw-goods  linn  in  the  countj'.  The}-  at  first  made  from  6,000  to 
8,000  bonnets  per  annum.  In  181 G  the  Wrentham  firm  failed, 
by  the  selling  out  of  one  of  the  partners,  it  is  said,  and  A.  &  D. 
Thayer  were  left  sole  occupants  of  the  new  industry.  Asa  Thayer 
died  in  181(i,  and  Davis  conducted  the  business  alone  until  1.S20, 
when  Hermon  C  Fisher  became  a  partner.  He  finall}-  started  a 
separate  concern,  and  others  also  entered  into  the  business.  But 
the  Thayer  house  still  continues  in  the  same  name  and  with  greatly 
enlarged  facilities  and  success.  Franklin  is  now  one  of  the  chief 
towns  where  this  industry  flourishes.  In  18G9  it  had  no  less  than 
seven  manufactories  of  straw  goods,  producing  1,500,000  hats 
and  bonnets  at  a  value  of  more  than  $1,000,000.  This  amount 
has  been  greatlj'  increased  by  the  use  of  improved  machiner}',  al- 
though fewer  persons  are  employed  at  their  homes  and  fewer  firms 
conduct  the  business. 

A  view  is  given  opposite  of  Major  Thaj-er's  house  and  place  of 
business.  His  store  was  on  the  left  and  the  entrance  where  the 
settee  is  standing.  The  piazza  is  a  modern  addition.  The  first 
central  post-ofllce  was  in  this  store. 

Another  industry  in  the  town  of  gi-owing  importance  is  the  man- 
ufacture of  felt  goods.  The  first  shoddy-picker,  and  probably  the 
first  in  the  country,  was  started  in  1849  at  Unionville  by  Messrs. 
J.  G.  &  J.  F.  Ray. 

Col.  Joseph  Ha}'  came  with  his  family  to  Franklin  in  1839  and 
engaged  at  first  in  making  cotton  goods.  His  three  sons  soon 
took  up  different  lines  of  woolen  goods,  enlarging  their  mills  and 
increasing  their  number  at  different  localities,  until  their  various 
factories  of  cotton,  cassimere,  felts,  &c.,  produce  about  a  million 
yards  per  year  of  satinets  alone.  The  total  of  their  products  we 
do  not  know.  Other  firms  have  also  lately  entered  upon  similar 
industries  within  the  town,  but  of  these  we  have  notanj'  data,  his- 
toric or  otherwise.     These  have  brought  their  accompaniments  of 


114  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

machine  shops,   planiug-niills,  aDcl  artisans,   making  the  region  of 
the  depots  livelj'  centers  of  activity. 

The  engraving  opposite  gives  a  ^•iew  of  the  office  of  Messrs.  Ray 
in  the  second  story  left,  the  National  Bank  in  the  right,  and  the 
present  post-office  and  stores  on  the  first  floor.  The  building  stands 
on  the  corner  of  INIain  and  Dei)ot  streets,  and  is  of  pressed  brick. 

The  shoe  business  has  never  put  more  than  a  single  foot  in  the 
town.  In  18,50,  N.  C.  Newell  bought,  moved  and  converted  the 
old  Emraon's  barn  into  a  boot  shop.  J.  M.  Freeman  followed  him 
soon  after  in  the  same  shop,  but  his  increasing  business  has  led 
him  twice  to  rebuild  larger  accommodations.  Other  manufactories 
of  less  extent  have  been  started  at  difterent  dates,  which  cannot 
here  have  special  mention.  Franklin  is  a  very  busj'  town,  where 
loafing  finds  a  difficulty  in  resisting  opportunities  for  work. 

But  as  an  evidence  that  Franklin  is  not  whollj'  material  in  its 
tastes,  it  should  be  recorded  that  it  has  at  this  date  two  weekly 
newspapers  well  conducted,  besides  a  job-printing  office,  not  to 
mention  at  least  one  boj-'s  hand-press  doing  a  lively  little  busi- 
ness. 

The  Franklin  Reijister  was  fii'st  issued  iu  October,  1872,  by 
James  M.  Stewart,  editor  and  proprietor,  and  is  still  in  a  flourish- 
ing condition  under  his  assiduous  management.  Another  weekly 
sheet  has  lately  appeared,  called  the  Franklin  Sentinel,  hj  R.  E. 
Capron,  indicating  a  con^-iction  of  the  town's  growing  intellectual 
appetite  for  more. 

The  Inisiness  of  the  town  sustains  a  national  and  a  saAangs 
bank,  both  successfully  managed.  Stores,  shops,  etc.,  requisite 
to  a  tllri^■ing  town,  abound.  A  view  of  one  of  the  later  blocks 
(Fletcher's)  on  Main  street,  uearly  opposite  the  post-offlce,  is 
given  between  pages  llO  and  117. 

The  following  statistics  from  the  State  census  of  1875  will  show 
at  a  glance  the  extent  of  the  town's  industries  at  that  date : 
Manufacturing  estalilishments  where  goods  are  made,  21  ;  value 
of  produced  goods,  $1,232,947  ;  occupations  where  work  is  done, 
26  ;  value  of  products,  $.37,968  ;  steam  engines,  12  ;  water-wheels, 
9  ;  horsepower,  1,17.5  ;  capital  invested  in  manufactures,  $325,625  ; 
yearly  wages,  $208,840  ;  total  industrial  products,  $1,299,915. 

The  following  table,  compiled  from  the  earliest  to  the  latest 
reliable   date,   by  S.   W.  Richardson,   Esq.,  collector  of  United 


> 


to 

r 
o 
o 

> 


H 

W 


ADDENDA. 


116 


States  Internal  Revenue,  will  exhibit  the  material  progress  of  the 
town  during  the  past  century  :  — 


INDUSTRIAL    TABLE. 


Year. 

P0ll3. 

Valuation. 

Houses. 

Barns. 

Horses. 

O.ven. 

Cows. 

Sheep. 

1786.. 

,..253  £2,401  ISs.  Od. 

127 

119 

1.32 

198 

570 

856 

1790.. 

...274 

2,803  1 4s.  6d. 

143 

131 

139 

270 

788 

1800.. 

...296 

$13,294  40 

169 

157 

180 

275 

729 

1810.. 

.  .288 

17,318  95 

180 

178 

163 

265 

733 

1820. . 

.  .323 

15,524  75 

210 

180 

143 

274 

599 

1830.. 

..286 

343,124  00 

234 

208 

149 

274 

563 

301 

1840.. 

..372 

417,078  00 

262 

227 

183 

191 

448 

129 

1850.. 

..384 

648,456  00 

304 

240 

185 

192 

493 

12 

1860. . 

..545 

•  811,636  00 

379 

269 

245 

142 

508 

5 

1865.. 

..543 

1,116,660  00 

402 

269 

573 

16 

1875.. 

..717 

1,433,6.35  00 

464 

331 

466 

4 

1878.. 

..890 

1,551,645  00 

563 

365 

522 

XV. 


LISTS    OF    PUBLIC    OFFICERS. 


{From  the  incorporation  of  the  precinct  to  the  present  time. ) 


1.      PRECINCT  CLERKS. 

Daniel  Thurston  (first  clerk),  173S.    Michael  Metcalf,  1757. 
Ezra  Pond,  1739,  '42. 

'41,    '43, 


Simon     Slocomb,    1740, 

'48,  '52. 
John  Fisher,  1744,  '47. 
Jabez  Fisher,  1753,  '56. 


Hezekiah  Fisher,  1758,  '69,  ' 
Timothy  Pond,  1759,  '62. 
Jonathan  Whiting,  1763,  '68 
Ebenezer  Metcalf,  1774-'77. 


73. 


Asa  Pond,  1778,  '80,  '82,  '85. 

Hezekiah  Fisher,  1781. 

Nathan  Daniels,  Jr.,  1786,  '91,  1804. 

Amos  Hawes,  1792,  1803. 

Asa  Harding,  1805,  '15. 

Lewis  Harding,  1816,  '23. 

3. 


TOWN   CLERKS. 

Capt.  David  Baker,  1824-'36. 
Wilkes  Gay,  Jr.,  1837-'39. 
Davis  Thayer,  Jr.,  1840-'45. 
Theron  C.  Hills,  1846-'62. 
Alpheus  A.  Russegue,  1863-'75. 
George  W.  Wiggin,  1876-'78. 


PRECINCT   TREASURERS. 

Eleazer  Metcalf,  1738.  Eobert  Blake,  1743-'52,  '58,  '68. 

Nathaniel  Fairbank,  1739.  Baruch  Pond,  1754-'57,  '61-'64. 

David  Jones,  1740,  '41.  Daniel  Thurston,  1759,  '60,  '05-'67, 
Thomas  Bacon,  1742, '53.  '69-'71. 

4.      TOWN   TREASURERS. 

Asa  Whiting,  1778-'87,  '92,  '93.  Lt.  Phineas  Ware,  1800-1804. 

Seth  Lawrence,  1788-'91.  Timothy  Metcalf,  1805-'16. 

Joseph  Whiting,  Jr.,  1794-'96.  Simeon  Partridge,  1817-'19. 

Hanan  Metcalf,  1797-'99.  Col.  Caleb  Thurston,  1820-'32. 


116 


HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 


Joel  Daniels,  lS33-'55,  '42-'53. 
Wilkes  Gay,  Jr.,  1830-' 39. 
George  W.  Morse,  1840,  '41. 
Theron  C.  Hills,  1854-'G0. 

."i.      SELEC 

Samuel  Lfthbridge,  1778. 

Dea.  Jonathan  Metcalf,  1778,  '79. 

AsaWhitins,  1778,  79. 

Hezekiali  Fisher,  1778. 

Ens.  Joseph  Hawes,  1778,  '79. 

Ebenezer  Lawrence,  1779,  'SO. 

Joseph  Whiting,  Jr.,  1779. 

Capt.  Asa  Fairbanks,  1780. 

Samuel  Morse,  Jr.,  1780,  '.si,  'S3. 

William  Gilraore,  1780-82. 

James  Metcalf.  1781. 

John  Richardson.  1781,  '82,  "87,  "94 

-98. 
Asa  Pond,  1782-85. 
Benjamin  I'ond.  1782. 
Peter  Adams,  1782. 
Joseph  Hills,  178o-'8ti. 
John  Boyd,  nsa-'S."),  '9.3. 
Nathan  Daniels,  1783. 
Ebenezer  Dean,  1780-'8S. 
Nathan  Daniels,  Jr.,  17SG-'88,  1802 

-'04. 
Moses  Knapp,  17S8,  "99,  1800,  '01. 
Seth  Bacon,  1789-91. 
Capt.  Eli  Richardson.  17S9,  '91,  '92, 

'99,  1800,  '01. 
Peter  Whiting,  1789-91.  94-'98. 
Elisha  Harding,  1790. 
.Jonathan  Wales,  1792,  '93. 
Isaac  Heaton,  Jr.,  1792,  '93. 
Pelatiah  Fisher,  1794-'98. 
William  Adams,  1799-1800,  '02. 
Amos  Hawes,  1802,  '03. 
Capt.  Stephen  Kingsbury,  1803,  '04. 
Timothy  Rockwood,  1804,  '0.5. 
Dea.  Joseph  Bacon,  ISCI-'OS. 
Jabez  Fisher,  Jr.,  180.5. 
James  Metcalf,  180G-'08. 
Capt.  Robt.  Gilmore,  180G-'09. 
Lieut.  Phineas  Ware,  1809,  '10. 
Lewis  Fisher,  1809-'18,  '20-'24,  '28. 
William  Makepeace,  1810-'13. 


Adams  Daniels,  1861,  '62. 
Alpheus  A.  Russegue,  1863-74. 
James  M.  Freeman,  187-5-'78. 

ITMEN. 

Daniel  Sayles,  1811,  '12. 
William  Boyd,  181.3,  '14,  ■17. 
Nathan  Woodward,  1814-' 10. 
James  Adams,  181.5,  '16. 
Capt.  Asa  Harding,  1817-22. 
Capt.  David  Hartshorn,  1818,  '19. 
Capt.  Dyar  Clark,  1818-'23. 
Ensign  Seth  Dean,  1823-'28. 
Lieut.  Willis  Fijlier,  lS24-'27,  '43. 
Col.  Caleb  Thurston,  182r>-'34. 
Wra.  Makepeace,  Jr.,  1829-'32. 
Dr.  Spencer  Pratt,  1829-"31. 
Capt.  Alfred  Knapp,  1832-'35.. 
Col.  Nathan  Cleveland,  lS33-'37. 
Joel  Daniels,  Jr.,  183.5-'38. 
Elisha  Richardson.  lS36-'o8. 
Wane  Adams,  l.S38-'40. 
Capt.  Hartford  Leonard,  1839-41. 
William  Metcalf,  1839,  '40,  '42,  '4.3. 
Albert  E.  Daniels,  1841,  '42. 
Rila  Scott,  1841. 
Martin  Green,  1842,  '43,  '4.5. 
Daniel  Thurston,  1844. 
Dea.  Levi  F.  Morse,  1844-'46. 
Capt.  Erastus  Rockwood.  1844-'49. 
Dea.  Peter    Adams,  1846-'49,  '75, 

'76. 
Col.  Saul  B.  Scott,  1847. 
George  W.  Nason,  1848-54,  '57,  '59. 
Joel  P.  Adams,  1850,  '51. 
Elisha  Hubbard,  1850,  '51. 
Dea.  Joseph  T.  Bacon,  18-52,  '53. 
Robert  Gilmore,  ls52,  '5.3. 
Elias  Cook,  1S54-'5G. 
Stephen  W.  Richardson,  1854-'56, 

'75. 
Joseph  Morse,  1855,  '56. 
Francis  B.  Ray,  1857,  '58,  '77. 
Seth  Partridge,  1857. 
Maxcy  Cook,  18.5S,  '.59. 
Lowell  B.  Cleveland,  1859,  'GO. 
Otis  Wales,  Jr.,  ]S00-'63. 


r 
n 

H 

o 

X 

n 


DO 
r 
o 
o 
?i 

> 


H 
M 

n 


ADDENDA. 


117 


James  P.  Ray,  ISCO-'iSS. 

James  M.  Freeman,  1861,  "04,  "(H; 

-'74. 
Josepli  G.  Ray,  1804,  '6.5. 
Horatio  Kingsbury,  1864. 
Joseph  H.  Wardsworth,  180.5,  '00, 

'6S-'72. 
Gardner  Adams,  180.5. 
Lewis  W.  Hills,  1806,  '07. 


William  Rockwood,  1867-69. 
Aaron  H.  Moses,  1870-'72. 
John  H.  Fisher,  1873. 
.Jason  Tower,  1873. 
Henry  R.  Jencks,  1874-'77. 
Joseph  W.  Clark,  1874,  '7-5. 
Erastus  L.  Metcalf,  187.5. 
Edmund  Hartshorn,  1875,  '77. 
Alfred  G.  Metcalf,  1875. 


B.     SCHOOL   COMJnTTEE.* 


Dr. 


'08, 


■09,  '17, 


'10. 

'OS, 


,  Nathaniel  Miller,  1802,  '09,  '11 

-'13,  '34. 
Pelatiah  Fisher,  1802. 
Capt.  Amos  Kawes,  1802,  '03. 
Dea.  Jonathan  Metcalf,  1802 

'13,  '1.5,  '20-'22. 
Oliver  Smith,  1802-'05.' 
Thomas  Mann,  1803. 
Elilm  Pond,  1803,  '05,  "OS, 

'18. 
Asa  Harding,  1803,  '04,  '08, 
Jolm  W.  Richardson,  1804 

'18,  '20-'22,  '28. 
Robert  Gilmore,  18(J4,  "05.  "20, 
Eli  Ricliardson,  Jr..  1804,  '00-' 
William  Boyd,  1805,  '19,  '20. 
Asa  Gowen,  1805,  '12,  '16. 
Willis  Fisher,   1808,  '15,   '17, 

'21,  '35. 
James  Wales,  1800. 
Dea.  Joseph  Bacon,  1809.  '11. 
Isaac  Morrill,  1810. 
Ichabod  Dean,  1810,  '27. 
Lewis  Fisher,  1810,  'H. 
Isaac  Walker,  1810. 
Eev.  Xathanacl  Emmons 
Dea.  James  Adams,  1S12-"14 
<-aleb  Kisher.  1812,  '13. 
Dr.   Spencer  Pratt,   1813 

-'20,  "24,  '27,  '30,  '36. 
Col.  Lewis  Harding,  1814. 
Capt.  Nath'l  Adams,  1814. 
Simeon  Partridge,  1814. 
William  Makepeace,  1815. 


'17, 

'21. 
11. 


20, 


,1811 


'12. 
20. 


'15,   '17 


'Hi. 


Erastus  Emmons,  1815, 

Whiting  Metcalf.  1816. 

Alfred  Ware,  2d,  1816. 

Luther  Gowen,  1817,  '18,  '20. 

Philip  W.  Miller,  1817,  '18. 

James  Fisher,  1819. 

Elisha  Harding,  1819. 

David  Baker,  1819. 

Alexander  C.  White,  1820,  '21. 

Joseph  Hills,  1820,  '21. 

Preston  Fisher,  1821. 

Herman  Basse tt,  1,S21. 

Capt.  Dyar  Clark,  1821. 

Dr.  Amory  Hunting.  1822,  '24-'26, 

'29,  '34,  '38. 
Willard  Fisher,   1824-'26,  '28,  '34, 

'40-44,  '48,  '49. 
Fisher  Daniels,  1824,  '25,  '28,  '29. 
George  C.  Wilde,  1826. 
William  Makepeace,  Jr.,  1826,  '30. 
Lieut.  Hiram  Knapp,  1827. 
Ira  Blake,  1828,  '30,  '32,  '34. 
Elias  Metcalf,  1828,  '29,  '31,  '33. 
Alpheus  Adams,  1829. 
Rev.  Elam  Smalley,  1831,  '34,  '38. 
Abijah  W.  Metcalf,  1831. 
Abel  Pond,  1831. 
Paul  B.  Clark,  1831,  '33,  '42-' 44, 

-'50. 
Capt.  A.  E.  Daniels,  1832,  '35. 
Ward  Adams,  1832,  '35. 
Joel  Daniels,  Jr.,  18.33. 
Dea.  Levi  F.  Morse,  1833,  '.34. 
Capt.  Philo  Fisher,  1833. 


48 


*  Prior  to  1802  the  schools  were  in  charge  of  the  selectmen  and  clergymen  of  the 
own. 


118 


HISTORY    OF   FRANKLIN. 


Jarvis  H.  Hills,  1833. 
Smith  Fisher,  1835,  '39,  '40. 
Hermou  Fisher,  1835. 
Asa  G.  Norcross,  1835. 
Wilkes  Gay,  .Ir.,  1835. 
Mortimer  Blake,  183t3-'38. 
Stephen  W.  KichardBon,  1836,  '51, 

'52. 
Erastus  Rockwood,  18.36. 
Elisha  Hubbard,  1836. 
John  H.  Fisher,  18:37. 
Ebenezer  A.  Warfield,  1837. 
Horatio  Kingsbury,  1837. 
Rev.  Tertius  D.  Southworth,  1839 

-'49,  '52. 
Dr.  Sliadrach  Atwood,  1839. 
William  Phipps,  Jr.,  1839. 
James  O.  Brown,  1839,  '40. 
George  W.  Morse,  1840,  '41. 
Rev.  Asa  Hixon,  1845,  '46,  '55,  '56. 
Hartford  P.  Leonard,  1845,  '46. 
William  E.  Peck,  1847. 
Dr.  Jona.  Mann,  1847. 


J.  Geo.  Hubbard,  1850. 

Waldo  Daniels,   1850,    '54-'.56,  '5& 

-'60,  '66-'69,  '77. 
Rev.   Samuel   Hunt,  1851,  '53,  '57, 

'63. 
James  C.  Whiting,  1851,  '52. 
Dr.  L.  L.  Scammell,  1853. 
Rev.  John  M.  Merrill,  1854. 
Thomas  M.  Bacon,  1855. 
Rev.  Joseph  Thayer,  1856. 
Dr.  Wm.   B.  Nolen,  1857,  '58,  '74 

-'76. 
Wm.  P.  Shepard,  1857. 
Sewall  Fisher,  1858,  ',59,  "65. 
Geo.  A.  Woodward,  18.51)-'61. 
Marcellus  A.  Woodward,  1860-'62. 
Dr.  Geo.  King,  1861-'63,  '07-'73. 
Adin  D.  Sargeant,  1862-64,  '70. 
Rev.  J.  K.  Deeriug,  1863. 
Rev.  S.  W.  Squire,  lS64-'77. 
Joseph  Woodward,  1865. 
Geo.  W.  Wiggin,  lS73-'75. 
William  F.  Ray,  1876,  '77. 


BEPBESBNTATIVES  TO   THE    OENEBAL  COURT. 


Ensign  Jo.seph  Hawes,  1778,  '81. 
Dr.  Joseph  Metcalf,  1779,  '80. 
Peter  Adams,  1782,  '83. 
Samuel  Lethbridge,  1784,  '85. 
Hon.  Jabez  Fisher,  1786,  '98,  '99. 
Capt.  Thomas  Bacon,  1787,  '88. 
Lt.  Hezekiah  Fisher,  1789-97. 
Col.  John  Boyd,  1800-'04. 
Pelatiah  Fisher,  1805,  '06. 
Capt.  Joseph  Bacon,  1807-'14. 
Lieut.  Phineas  Ware,  1811-'17. 
Lewis  Fisher,   1815,   '16,  '18- '21, 

'23,  '26. 
Dr.  Nath'l  Miller,  1827,  '.33. 
Col.  Caleb  Thurston,  1829,  '30. 
Willis  Fisher,  1831. 
Major  Davis  Thayer,  1832,  '34,  '40. 
Ensign  Seth  Dean,  1834. 
Joel  Daniels,  1837. 
Col.  Nathan  Cleveland,  1838,  '39. 
Ward  Adams,  1840. 


Albert  Daniels,  1841. 
Col.  Saul  B.  Scott,  1843,  "44. 
Dr.  Sh.adrack  Atwood,  1847. 
Col.  Paul  Clark,  1S48. 
Geo.  W.  Nason,  1850. 
William  Metcalf,  1851. 
Capt.  Hartford  Leonard,  1852. 
Seneca  Hills,  1855. 
Mason  F.  Southworth,  1856. 
Theron  C.  Hills,  18.57. 
Stephen  W.  Richardson,  18.58. 
James  M.  Freeman,  1860. 
James  P.  Ray,  1801,  '77. 
Rev.  Wm.  M.  Thayer,  1863. 
Frances  B.  Ray,  18(i5. 
Alpheus  A.  Russegue,  1867. 
Henry  E.  Pond,  1808. 
Rev.  Richard  Eddy,  1870. 
Joseph  A.  Woodward,  1871. 
John  H.  Fisher,  1873,  '74. 
Davis  Thayer.  1876. 


ADDENDA.  119 

XVI.        MIHTAUY. 

The  chapter  of  our  military  histor}'  maj-  be  brief,  as  the  mate" 
rials  for  its  most  important  portion  have  alreadj*  been  quoted  in 
the  historical  address.  Of  the  participation  of  our  fathers  in  the 
earliest  struggles  of  the  Colon}-  with  the  Indians  no  account  has 
been  found.  Some  of  them  were  engaged  in  the  war  against 
King  Philip,  and  doubtless  in  the  subsequent  French  and  Indian 
wars  and  expeditions  against  the  Canadas.  But  the  individual 
participants  have  been  mostly  hidden  by  the  obscurities  of  nearly 
two  centuries. 

In  a  list  of  Captain  Moseley's  company  of  Dedham.  dated  "OX 
bar  1675"  (Dec.  9),  are  found  the  names  of  Samuel  Colborue, 
John  Day  and  Robert  Weare,  of  whom  the  last  certainlj-  was  the 
ancestor  of  a  Franklin  family.  In  a  list  of  prisoners  exchanged 
and  brought  to  Boston  in  the  schooner  "  Brittania,"  Gth  October, 
1748,  Moses  Washburn,  of  "Wrentham,  is  included  as  "taken 
prisoner  at  Brunswick  and  carried  to  Canada."  These  instances, 
however,  have  little  interest  bej'ond  showing  that,  however  crowded 
our  ancestors  were  with  the  founding  of  their  own  precinct,  they 
were  not  unaware  or  neglectful  of  the  needs  of  their  Province 
against  its  papal  enemies  on  the  north.  Still,  as  it  was  so  much 
a  contest  of  ambitious  rival  crowns,  thev  gave  to  their  wars  none 
of  the  enthusiastic  response  with  which  the}'  met  the  first  move- 
ments towards  their  own  independence.  Of  this  enthusiasm  the 
votes  and  resolves  of  the  town,  both  before  and  after  its  incorpo- 
ration, already  quoted,  give  hearty  evidence.  The  reader  is  re- 
ferred to  that  portion  of  this  volume  for  samples  of  the  patriotism 
of  those  days. 

When  it  became  evident  that  a  collision  with  the  mother  countr}' 
was  imminent,  Wrentham,  like  other  towns,  diKgently  drilled  its 
militia  and  organized  its  two  corps  of  minute-men,  who  were  to 
hold  themselves  in  readiness  to  march  at  a  moment's  warning 
wherever  called.  The  movement  of  the  British  troops  to  seize 
some  military  stores  of  .the  Pro^-ince  at  Concord,  in  April,  1775, 
gave  the  first  opportunity  to  try  the  alacrity  of  these  minute-men. 

In  the  archives  of  the  State  are  preserved  the  rolls  of  the  men 
who  responded  to  this  first  alai-m  of  April  19,  as  well  as  those  who 
enlisted  afterwards  in  the  Colonial  service  during  the  War  of  the 


120 


HISTORY   OF    FRANKLIN. 


Revolution.  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  A.  D.  Sargent  of  the  Centennial 
Committee  for  copies  of  tlie.se  rolls,  as  also  of  the  volunteers  iu 
the  late  rebellion.  The  earlier  ones  contain  simplj'  the  names 
and  rank  of  the  members.  But  the  intelligent  reader  will  be  able 
to  distinguish  the  Franklin  men  upon  the  lists.  The}'  are,  there- 
fore, inserted  without  comment :  — 

A  true  return  of  the  travel  and  return  and  time  of  service  of 
the  Minute  company  under  the  command  of  Capt.  John  Boyd  of 
Wrentham,  in  C'on'l  Gaston's  regt.  assembled  and  marched  the 
Nineteenth  of  Ajjril  last  in  the  alarm  :  — 


CAPT.  JOHN  BOYD  S  COMPANY. 


John  Boyd, 
Ebenezer  Dean, 
John  Oould, 
Jonathan  Holbrook, 
John  Kllis, 
Reuben  Partridge, 
Eli  Eichardson, 
John  Pond, 
Samuel  Jones, 
Pliineas  Ware, 
Ralph  Man, 
Eli  Pond, 
John  Plimpton, 
Timothy  Adams, 
Nathaniel  Adams, 
Joel  Adams, 
William  Adams, 
Moses  .'Vdams, 
William  Boyd, 
Francis  Clark, 
Elijah  Clark, 
Jeremiah  Daniels, 
Comfort  Dickerman, 
Obed  Fisher, 
Joel  Fairbanks, 
Peter  Frost, 
Thomas  Gay, 
Jonathan  Graves, 
James  Hills, 
Ziba  Hills, 


Captain. 

Left. 

Ens. 

Sargt. 


Corp'l. 


Drum. 

Fiff. 

Private. 


Moses  Hawes, 
Abijah  Hawes, 
Ebenezer  Hartshorn, 
John  Hill, 
Stephen  Harding, 
Joel  Hawes, 
P.aul  Holbrook, 
Asa  Hawes, 
Stephen  Kingsbury, 
Timothy  Lane, 
Joseph  Metcalf, 
Titus  Metcalf, 
Haman  Metcalf, 
Samuel  Metcalf, 
Samuel  Mars, 
Theodore  Man, 
Luther  Metcalf, 
Samuel  Partridge, 
Daniel  Pond, 
Benjamin  Pond, 
Penuel  Pond, 
Abial  Pratt, 
David  Pike, 
Benjamin  Panial, 
Olivier  Richardson, 
Moses  Rockwood, 
Amos  Rockwood, 
Nathan  Thayer, 
Beth' 1  Foster, 


Private. 


£37  ms.  (id. 
John  Boyd,  Capt. 


ADDENDA.  121 

MiDDLKSKx  Ss.,  Decem'r  22,  1775. 
The  above  named  .loliii  IJoyd  made  solemn  oath  that  the  above 
roll  l)\-  him  subscribed  is  just  and  true  in  all  respects. 
Before  Moses  Gill,  Jus.  Peace  for  the  province. 
Kxa  mined  and  compared  with  the  original. 


by  Samitel  Moouy,     ") 

Ei)WAKi>  Rawson,  -  Committee. 
MiciiAEi.  Farley,  j 


In  Council  Fcb'y  !>,  1776  Read  &  allowed  &  ordered  that  a  war- 
rant be  drawn  on  the  Treas"r  for  £37  l.')s.  (kI.  in  full  of  the  within 
roll. 

I'vAiv.y.  'Monros.  Dep.  Treas. 

A  ISIuster  Roll  of  the  First  ^Military  Company  of  the  Town  of 
Wrentham  who  marchd  the  thirtieth  day  of  April,  177.^  upon  au 
Alarm,  under  the  command  of  Thomas  Bacon  Capt.,  and  left  the 
Place  of  Rendezvous  the  first  day  of  May  following  :  — 

CAPT.    THOMAS   liACON's   COMPANY. 

Thomas  Bacon.  Capt.  Nathan  Daniels,  Jr.,  Private. 

Seth  Bacon,  Lieut.  Robert  Blake,  " 

A.sa  Pond.  Sergiant.  Zephaniah  Lame,  " 

Solomon  Blake.  Corpl.  Daniel  Thurston,  " 

Benjamin  Claik.  Private.  Elisha  Rockwood,  " 

Benjn.  Rockwood,  "  Elisha  Richardson,  " 

.Iosej)h  Ellis,  "  Billa  Metcalf.  " 

Eleazer  Fisher,  "  Seth  Wright,  " 

Suffolk,  Ss..  Deer.  18,  1775. 
Then  the  above  named  Thomas  Bacon  personally  appeared  and 
Tn.ide  oath  to  the  truth  of  the  aljove  roll. 

before  me.  Stepiin  Mktcalf 
£7  9s.  8d.  Justice  Peace. 

Tho.mas  Bacon 
Deer,  ye  15  :  1775. 

It  is  evident  by  the  names  that  the  above  was  the  contribution 
of  the  west  precinct  to  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  and  the  invest- 
ment of  Boston.  "Wrentham  contained  at  that  date  two  military 
companies,  rolls  of  which  are  preserved.  We  have  copied  here 
only  the  north  company,  although  some  living  in  this  precinct  may 
bave  been  included  in  the  south  company  under  the  command  of 
Capt.  Samuel  Cowell. 

As  the  collision  with  the  mother  country  developed  its  alarming 
proportions  and  the  Provincial  Congress  called  upon  the  people  for 


122 


HISTORY    OP    FRANKLIN. 


troops  to  defend  their  liberties,  Wrentham  promptly  responded 
with  its  quota  for  the  coming  war.  Manj-  of  the  men,  whoso 
names  have  been  already  given,  enlisted  in  the  Colonial  service. 
We  can  select  the  residents  of  this  part  of  the  town  onl}'  bj'  sim- 
ilarity of  name.  We  have  the  muster  rolls  of  five  companies 
"  who  marched  from  Wrentham  on  the  nineteenth  Day  of  April 
in  the  Colony  Service,"  1775.  Tliey  were  respectively  under 
the  command  of  Capts.  Asa  Fairbanks,  Benjamin  Hawes,  Samuel 
KoUock,  Elijah  Pond,  and  Oliver  Pond.  Thej-  were  of  the  militia 
Avho  constituted  General  Washington's  first  command  in  the  siege 
of  Boston,  and  out  of  them  were  mainly  recruited  our  quota  of 
the  Continentals  who  followed  him  in  his  campaigns.  Captains 
Fairbanks'  and  F.  Pond's  companies  are  mostly  of  Franklin  names, 
as  follows  :  — 

CAPT.    ASA    PAIIiBANKS'    OOMPANT. 


Asa  Fairbanks, 

Capt. 

Asa  Metcalf, 

Private. 

.Joseph  Woodward, 

Lieut. 

Matthias  Haws, 

Joseph  Haws, 

u 

John  Fairbank, 

.lames  Gillmore, 

Sergt. 

Joseph  Streeter, 

.loseph  Hills, 

" 

John  Adams. 

David  Wood, 

Corp. 

Nathan  Wight, 

Peter  Adams, 

Private. 

Philemon  Metcalf, 

.John  Clark. 

•' 

Asa  Whiting, 

.lesse  Ware, 

" 

Abijah  Allen, 

Peltiah  Fisher, 

" 

Jonathan  Hawes, 

Isaac  Heaton, 

" 

JohnPearce, 

Peter  Fisher, 

" 

Mill  Man, 

Elisha  Harding, 

" 

Ebenezer  Dean, 

Levi  Chaffee, 

" 

Matthew  Smith, 

William  S.ayles, 

" 

Asahel  Perry, 

James  Smith, 

" 

John  Clark,  Jr., 

Joseph  Harding, 

" 

Joseph  Hills, 

William  Gilmore, 

" 

Aaron  Fisher, 

lehabod  Dean, 

'• 

Joseph  Guild, 

CAPT. 

ELI.JAH   pond's   company. 

Elijah  Pond. 

Capt. 

Amos  Bacon, 

Drum, 

Asa  Pond, 

Lt. 

Nathan  Daniels, 

Clerk, 

Jona.  Bowditch, 

2dLt. 

Elisha  Eockwood, 

Private, 

Robert  Blake, 

Serg. 

Abijah  Thurston, 

" 

Timo.  Pond, 

" 

Robert  Pond, 

•' 

Duke  Williams, 

Corp. 

Zepha.  I^ane, 

" 

Sam  Pond, 

" 

Eleaz.  Partridge, 

it 

ADDENDA.  123. 

Joseph  Ellis,  Private.    Elisha  Partridge,  Private. 

Benj.  Pond,  "  Simeon  Daniels,  " 

Timo.  Rockwood,  "  John  Allen,  " 

Elias  Ware,  "  Jas.  Fisher,  " 

Elisha  Bullard,  "  John  Metcalf,  " 

Daniel  Thurston,  "  Elisha  Pond,  " 

Nathan.  Thayer,  "  John  Richardson,  " 

Peter  Darling  "  Elisha  Richardson,  " 

Simeon  Fisher,  " 

In  a  pay-roll  of  Capt.  Samuel  Cowell's  Compan}-  of  Col.  Benja- 
min Hawes'  Regiment  iu  the  secret  expedition  Sept.  25,  1777,  to 
October  30,  we  identify  the  names  of  Michael  Metcalf,  Timothy 
Metcalf  and  Benjamin  Rockwood. 

In  a  return  of  C'apt.  Asa  Fairbank's  Companj-,  enlisted  for  the 
Continental  army,  and  dated  16th  February,  1778,  as  Wrentham's 
(juota  at  the  time  of  the  division  of  the  town,  there  are  only  five 
persons  from  Wrentham,  and  none  of  them  Franklin  names.  The 
rest  belonged  elsewhere.  Another  company,  Capt.  S.  Fisher's, 
contains  none  from  Franklin,  unless  it  be  John  Kingsburj'.  These 
two  muster-rolls  count  fortj^-seveu  privates. 

In  a  "  Return  of  all  the  men  in  the  first  Mihtary  foot  Companj- 
in  Wrentham,  called  the  North  Company  in  the  West  precinct  in; 
the  town  that  have  enlisted  into  the  Continental  army,  or  that 
have  been  Hired  by  said  Company,"  under  Capt.  John  Metcalf,  of 
the  nineteen  men  are  eleven  from  Wrentham,  viz.  :  Samuel  Met- 
calf, John  Metcalf,  William  Lane,  Asa  Hawes,  William  Greene, 
Thomas  Moloy,  Jonathan  Norris,  Isaac  Silver,  Hugh  Denniston, 
John  Barnes,  William  Pedley.  This  is  datedFeb.  16,  1778.  Only 
three  P'rankliu  names. 

The  town  has  not  preserved,  to  our  knowledge,  any  of  these 
muster-rolls  or  any  other  data  to  make  up  a  list  of  its  soldiers  in 
the  Revolutionary  War.  In  the  changes  of  town  clerks,  no  care 
seems  to  have  been  taken  to  transfer  the  documents  of  town  af- 
fairs. It  is  a  sample  of  the  general  negligence  of  the  present  to 
regard  the  inquiries  of  coming  generations.  We  have  devoted 
much  research,  and  in  all  available  directions,  to  trace  Franklin's 
share  in  the  Revolution,  and  we  are  satisfied  that  the  rolls  given 
do  not  include  all  who  should  be  on  them.  Elihu  Pond  was  im- 
prisoned and  nearly  starved  by  the  British  in  the  old  sugar-house 
at  New  York,  and  from   which  he  escaped  by  night,  us  we  have 


124  HISTORY    OP    FRANKLIN. 

heard  him  tell  his  stoiy,  but  he  is  not  on  any  roll.  Philip 
Blake  was  blacksmith  and  commissarj'  to  a  portion  of  the  Ameri- 
can army  on  Dorchester  Heights,  and  was  afterwards  in  Sullivan's 
retreat  on  Rhode  Island,  but  he  is  not  on  any  roll.  Penuel 
Pond  is  among  the  minute-men,  but  there  is  no  record  of  his  after- 
enlistment,  or  that  he,  as  his  grave-stone  in  the  City  Mills  ceme- 
tery says,  "•  died  1(J  Dec.  17 —  in  York  harlior  on  board  a  guard- 
ship,  supposed  to  be  poisoned  b3'  ye  British  doctors."  There  were 
at  least  seventeen  Ponds  from  Franklin  in  the  American  army,  and 
how  man}'  of  other  names  cannot  now  probably  be  determined. 

Of  the  interesting  incidents  and  deeds  of  patriotism  of  that 
period  this  chapter  nmst  be  equally  deficient.  They  were  many, 
as  a  few  current  traditions  which  we  have  been  told  might  testif)'. 

Franklin  was  not  only  intolerant  of  royalists  and  their  sympa- 
thizers, but  showed  some  special  favors  to  British  subjects  who 
succeeded  in  escaping  from  the  British  armies.  Tradition  has  it 
that  more  than  one  deserter  found  a  safe  hiding  place  in  the  scat- 
tered houses  of  this  precinct.  John  Adams,  ancestor  of  the  Adams 
famil}'  in  this  town,  was  not  the  only  victim  of  an  EngUsh  press- 
gang  who  found  refuge  here  and  a  home.  John  Newton  was  per- 
haps a  more  striking  case.  He  was  a  native  of  England,  bora 
about  1 755.  He  had  regularly-  learned  the  trade  of  ship  carpenter, 
and  had  also  served  his  full  time  as  a  soldier  in  the  British  army. 
But  he  was  impressed  on  board  a  man-of-war  at  the  beginning  of 
the  Revolution  and  brought  to  America.  Feehng  that  he  had  a 
right  to  his  freedom,  he  succeeded  in  communicating  a  plan  of  es- 
cape to  some  of  the  Yankees  in  or  near  Boston,  who  promised  him 
assistance.  On  a  stormy  and  daik  night,  while  his  ship  was  block- 
ading the  harbor,  he  slid  overboard  undetected,  and,  guided  bj'  a 
beacon  light  which  had  been  burning  two  or  three  evenings,  ho 
swam  ashore,  a  distance  of  three  miles.  When  he  landed  he  could 
neither  walk  nor  stand,  but  his  waiting  friends  carried  him  to  a 
shelter  till  he  was  recruited  sufflciently  to  flee  into  the  country. 
On  his  way  to  Dedhara  he  was  met  and  questioned  who  he  was. 
He  answered  prompt!}',  "John — going,"  and  so  he  was,  as  rap- 
idly as  possible,  until  finally  he  reached  Franklin.  The  name  which 
served  him  once  so  well  he  retained,  and  was  known  among  our 
fathers  as  John  Going,  now  modernized  into  Gow-en.  He  mar- 
ried, according  to  the  town  records,  14th  June,  17SG,  Mary  Cook 


ADDENDA.  125 

of  Bellingham,  and  bad  four  sons — Benjamin,  Asa,  John  and 
liiither.  Luther  remained  in  town  on  the  paternal  farm,  married 
a  neighbor's  daugliter,  Elvira  Mctcalf,  and  had  also  four  sons  — 
Warren.  George,  Charles  and  Horace,  of  whom  the  third  is  still  a 
resident  of  Franklin,  and  the  son  of  another  keeps  the  Franklin 
House.     The  others  have  gone. 

This  town  also  once  counted  among  its  citizens  a  person  who 
excited  quite  a  commotion  in  his  da}-.  It  was  immediatelj-  after 
and  consequent  upon  the  Revolution,  and  hence  finds  a  place  here. 

Genet  and  his  successor  Fauchet,  French  Ministers  to  the  strug- 
gUng  United  States,  thougljt  to  forward  our  independence  by 
exciting  the  Canadians  to  revolt,  and,  through  Adet,  it  was  pre- 
claimed  to  them  that  tlie  French  would  aid  them.  vSome  over-en- 
thusiastic Americans  rallied  to  Adet's  private  call.  Among  them 
was  David  Lane.  He  was  a  native  of  Attleboro,  but  traded  au- 
tumns in  Xorth  Carolina,  where  he  somehow  obtained  the  prefix 
of  Mc,  and  was  known  as  McLane.  By  this  name  he  married  in 
Franklin,  'iCth  October,  1786,  Rebecca  Gilmoi'e,  and  had  one 
ilaughter,  Rebecca  G.  McLane,  who,  in  due  time,  26th  March, 
1818.  married  Robert  Gilmore.  On  the  early  death  of  his  wife, 
he  married  as  second  wife  a  Miss  Davis,  of  Charlton,  and  had 
another  daughter,  Cynthia,  lately  residing  in  Worcester. 

As  a  sample  of  his  adventurous  spirit,  he,  with  Paul  Draper, 
built  the  "  old  coffee  house"  on  the  north  side  of  Market  square, 
in  Providence  —  the  first  house  where  the  floor  joists  were  laid  on 
instead  of  morticed  into  the  plates.  It  was  a  famous  resort  of 
merchants  in  its  da}-,  which  the  older  men  will  remember.  The 
State  granted  McLane  a  lottery  to  help  him  pa}^  for  it,  but  he  be- 
came involved  and  desperate.  In  this  mood  he  fell  in  with  Adet, 
accepted  a  commission  as  General  in  his  revolutionarj' project,  and 
started  for  Canada  in  1796.  Ilis  directions  were  to  go  privately 
to  Quebec,  raise  a  company  of  raftsmen,  who,  when  mustered  and 
all  ready  with  their  eight-feet  iron-heade  drafting  pikes,  were  to 
make  a  dash  and  seize  the  garrison  of  Quebec,  when  the  city  would 
be  at  their  mercy.  McLane  gathered  his  men  unconscious  of  his 
puri50se,  but  on  his  way  the  next  year,  via  St.  John,  to  lead  the 
project,  he  told  his  plans  to  a  Frenchman,  Charles  Trichette,  whom 
he  had  hired  to  assist,  and  to  John  Black,  a  Canadian  ship-builder. 
But  Black  had  just  been  elected  to  the  Provincial  Parliament,  and 


126  HISTORY   OP   FRANKLIN. 

for  his  own  political  advancement  he  handed  over  McLane  to  the 
authorities  as  a  traitor  and  spy.  The  government  determined  to 
make  him  a  warning  to  the  French  habitants.  He  was,  therefore, 
•solemnly  tried,  condemned,  and  publiclj"  executed  on  the  glacis 
■outside  the  wall  of  Quebec,  near  St.  John's  gate,  21st  July,  1797. 
The  body  was  then  taken  down  from  the  gallows,  the  head  was 
severed  and  held  up  by  the  hair  to  the  crowd,  the  entrails  were 
taken  out  and  burned,  and  the  limbs  severed,  but  not  separated, 
and  his  remains  were  buried  at  a  cross  road,  after  the  English  pen- 
alty for  treason.  Grants  of  land  were  made  to  the  Informants  and 
witnesses.  But  Black  lost  his  reputation  for  his  agency'  in  the  in- 
famous affair,  and  ultiniatelj'  he  became  a  loathsome  beggar  in  the 
streets  of  Quebec.  It  was  the  last  and  probably  the  solitary  in- 
stance of  hanging,  drawing  and  quartering  in  America,  and  that 
upon  an  American  citizen  and  a  FrankUnman,  who,  it  was  said  at 
the  time,  "  might  with  more  propriety  have  been  treated  as  an  un- 
■happy  lunatic  than  a  criminal — -a  stranger,  friendless  and  alone, 
he  was  altogether  powerless." 

His  j-oungest  daughter  subsequently,  bj- courageous  persistence, 
secured  the  mutilated  remains,  and  thej'  were  brought  to  Franklin 
-and  decently  interred.  Dr.  Emmons  preaching  a  funeral  sermon 
upon  the  occasion.  They  lie  unmarked  by  a  stone  in  our  Central 
cemetery. 

The  muster-rolls  for  the  war  of  1812  are  at  present  in  Washing- 
ton awaiting  the  determination  of  claims  under  the  recent  pension 
law,  and  are  therefore  inaccessible  to  the  public,  except  at  the 
time  and  cost  of  a  journey  thither.  But  it  is  believed  that  few  of 
our  citizens  engaged  in  that  second  conflict,  excepting  such  as 
were  ordered  out  a  few  days  for  coast  defense.     But  the  war  of 

THE   REBELLION 

met  with  a  quick,  wide  and  earnest  response.  As  soon  as  the 
town  meeting  could  be  summoned,  2d  May,  1861,  the  selectmen 
were  authorized  to  draw  $3,000  for  war  purposes,  and  to  add  to 
the  United  States  pay  to  enlisted  and  accepted  men  $10  per  month 
to  single  men,  and  $15  per  month  to  married  men,  who  enUsted 
within  thirty  days.  The  spontaneous  feeling  is  indicated  in  this 
vote  then  passed  nem.  con. :  — 


ADDENDA.  127 

Resolved,  That  it  is  tlie  dut_y  of  all  good  citizens  to  discounte- 
nance and  frown  upon  cver_y  individual  among  us,  if  an_y  there  be, 
who  shall  express  sentiments  disloyal  to  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  or  oiler  aid  or  sj'mpathy  to  the  plotters  of  treason 
and  rebellion. 

It  was  no  ephemeral  impulse,  for  when  the  grand  conspiracy 
began  to  develop  its  formidable  proportions  and  bitterness  of  pui- 
pose,  the  town  again  thus  decidedly  expressed  itself,  19th  Julj', 
1862:  — 

The  selectmen,  clergy,  and  all  good  citizens  are  earnestly  solic- 
ited to  encourage  and  stimulate  b}'  puljlic  meetings  and  otherwise 
tiie  prompt  enlistment  of  the  required  number  of  volunteers  from 
this  town,  that  our  fellow  citizens  already  in  the  service  may  be 
cheered  and  sustained  by  accessions  of  numbers  and  strength,  the 
rebellion  crushed,  and  peace  and  prosperity  soon  smile  upon  our 
<'ommon  country. 

As  a  result  thirtj--six  men  were  raised  on  a  quota  of  twenty- 
three,  the  overplus  being  credited  to  Dedham  by  some  agreement. 
On  the  call  of  August,  1862,  for  300,000  men,  the  selectmen  re- 
ported forty-three  men  raised  on  a  quota  of  thirty-four.  Subse- 
quent action  shows  an  equally  ready  response  by  the  town  to  each 
call  of  the  Government  for  troops. 

Not  only  the  town  officially,  but  individual  citizens  were  gener- 
ous in  their  subscriptions  towards  paying  bounties  and  aiding  the 
families  of  volunteers.  It  may  not  be  invidious  to  other  equally 
marked  instances  to  give  one  sample.  In  the  lev}'  of  .Jul}',  1862, 
Adams  Daniels  offered  $10  each  to  the  first  ten  volunteers  ;  James 
P.  Ray  offered  the  same  sum  to  the  second  ten  which  Frank  B. 
Ray  duplicated  ;  Henry  M.  Greene  offered  $10  to  each  of  the  last 
seven  of  the  quota  of  twenty-seven,  to  which  Albert  E.  Daniels 
added  $5  each  ;  Davis  Thayer  then  offered  $5  to  each  of  the  twenty- 
seven,  and  Oliver  Dean  duplicated  Mr.  Thaj'er's  offer.  A  similar 
subscription  was  made  in  1864,  in  which  a  much  larger  number  of 
citizens  participated  and  a  greatly  increased  sum  was  the  result. 
But  these  facts  are  spread  upon  the  town  records  for  the  use  of  the 
next  centennial  historian,  and  need  not  be  quoted  to  the  partici- 
pators now  living. 

An  incident  in  connection  with  the  first  detachment  of  volun- 
teers—  that  over-quota  of  thirty-six  —  may  find  a  place  here. 
Lewis  R.  Whitaker,   who  had  fought  for  liberty  in  Kansas,  had 


128  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

been  speciallj*  iustrumental  in  raising  this  liody  of  men,  aiui  had 
been  commissioned  their  .Second  Lieutenant.  It  was  called  Cora- 
panj'  C,  Fortj'-lifth  Regiment  Massachusetts  Volunteers.  Just 
before  their  departure  the  citizens  met  them  in  the  Town  Hall, 
10th  September,  18G:i.  tor  a  farewell.  The  volunteers  had  mean- 
while procured  a  tine  sword  for  their  officer.  This  sword  was 
presented  by  George  W.  Woodward  with  a  telling  speech  to  the 
suii)rised  Lieutenant.  The  Captain  of  the  company,  Miuot  of 
Boston,  followed,  and  others.  A  Bible  bad  akeady  been  given 
to  each  man,  and  near  the  close  of  the  meeting  a  temperance 
pledge  was  produced  to  the  men.  Captain  Minot  signed  it,  fol- 
lowed by  Lieutenant  Whitaker.  He  then  called  upon  "  the  boys" 
to  imitate  his  example,  which  thej'  did  with  two  or  three  excep- 
tions, rushing  en  masse  upon  the  platform  in  their  enthusiasm.* 
When  it  was  announced  that  only  twenty-three  were  called  for. 
one  of  the  thirteen  declared  they  would  all  go  if  they  went  afoot 
and  alone.  These  were  not  hirelings,  but  Franklin's  own  sons, 
and  held  the  spirit  of  their  fathers  of  1776. 

As  nearly  as  can  at  present  be  ascertained,  218  men  were 
fm'nished  bj*  the  town  during  the  war,  but  many  of  these  wore 
non-residents.  The  rolls  furnished  by  Mr.  Sargent  of  the  Cen- 
tennial Committee  from  the  State  House  have  been  diligently 
compared  with  the  list  in  the  town  clerk's  otHce,  and  liy  sev- 
eral persons  acquainted  with  the  men,  to  determine  who  were 
properly  citizens  of  this  town.  The  following  list  is  presented 
as  the  result.  It  is  not  claimed  to  be  perfectly  accurate,  but  it  is 
the  nearest  to  accuracy  which  the  writer  can  obtain.  The  town 
might  well  appropriate  a  small  sum  to  make  the  list  and  his- 
tory of  its  own  soldiers  in  the  rebellion  perfectly  complete  and 
fuU.  The  next  century  will  heartily  approve  of  the  expenditure, 
and  future  pension  agents  will  lose  three  times  the  cost  to  the  ben- 
efit of  future  claimants  :  — - 


*  Lieutenant  Whitaker,  now  resident  in  Franklin,  bears  the  commission  of  the 
first  police  officer  in  the  town,  issued  hy  the  selectmen  May  18,  187T.  A  good 
testimonial  both  to  him  and  to  the  morals  of  the  town  that  it  needs  hut  one 
policeman,  after  a  century's  growth,  to  gather  in  its  "  wild  oats." 


ADDENDA.  129 

REBELLION  RECORD. 


Chakles  R.  ADAiis,  sou  of  Peter.  Enlisted  June,  1S62,  Company  A, 
Thirty-tliird  Regiment.  Was  transferred  to  Forty-first  Regiment.  Went 
to  New  Orleans  and  was  changed  to  Third  Cavalry.  Returned  in  August, 
1804.  Was  under  Sheridan,  and  killed  in  the  battle  of  Berryville,  near 
Winchester,  19th  September,  1SU4. 

Henry  P.  Adajis,  son  of  Oren  W.  Enlisted  January,  1861,  in  Third 
Infantry.  Was  taken  prisoner  November,  1864,  and  in  Andersonville 
sixteen  months. 

William  M.  E.  Adams,  son  of  Erastus.  Enlisted  July,  1861,  in  Com- 
pany I,  Eighteenth  Regiment.  Was  discharged  at  end  of  service  —  Sep- 
tember, 1864. 

Alvin  B.  Adams,  son  of  Oren  W.  Enlisted  July,  1861,  in  Company 
G,  Sixteenth  Regiment. 

William  W.  Adams,  son  of  Oren  W.  Enlisted  September,  1862,  in 
Company  C,  Forty-fifth  Regiment.     Was  discliarged  at  end  of  service. 

Andrew  J.  Alexander,  son  of  William.  Enlisted  September,  1862, 
in  Company  C,  Forty-fifth  Regiment.     Was  honorably  discharged. 

Lowell  W.  Adams,  son  of  Oren  W.  Enlisted  September,  1862,  in 
Company  G.  Forty-tifth  Regiment.  Re-enlisted  March,  1864,  in  Company 
I,  Eighteenth  Regiment.     Was  honorably  discharged. 

William  G.  Adams,  son  of  Gardner.  Enlisted  August,  1862,  in  Com- 
pany K,  Forty-fourth  Regiment.  Was  in  the  battle  of  Little  Creek, 
N.  C.  Was  wounded  at  Newbern.  Was  honorably  discharged  at  end  of 
service. 

Caleb  W.  B.\llou,  son  of  Caleb.  Enlisted  August,  1862,  in  Company 
H,  Fortieth  Regiment.     Was  discharged  for  disability  February,  1864. 

William  H.  Baldwin,  son  of  Henry.  Enlisted  July,  1862,  in  Com- 
pany A,  Thirty-fifth  Regiment.  Was  taken  prisoner.  Died  in  Ander- 
sonville 2od  October,  1864. 

Seth  Blake,  son  of  Seth.  Enlisted  August,  1861,  in  Company  I, 
Eighteenth  Regiment.  Re-enlisted  in  1864.  Was  captured  in  second 
battle  of  Bull  Run.  Was  prisoner  in  Andersonville  four  months.  Was 
honorably  discharged. 

Adin  Ballou,  son  of  Albert.     Enlisted  in  Tenth  Maine  Regiment. 

Owen  E.  Ballou,  sou  of  Barton.  Enlisted  September,  1862,  in  Com- 
pany C,  Fourth  Regiment.     Was  honorably  discharged. 

Charles  H.  Bemis,  son  of  Henry.  Enlisted  September,  1862,  in  Com- 
pany C,  Forty-fifth  Regiment.     Was  honorably  discharged. 

William  A.  Ballou,  son  of  Albert.  Enlisted  September,  1862,  in 
Company  C,  Forty-fifth  Regiment.     Was  honorably  discharged. 

Thomas  Coffield,  son  of  John.  Enlisted  July,  1862,  in  Company  I, 
Eighteenth  Regiment.  Re-enlisted  for  three  years.  Was  honorably  dis- 
charged. 


130  HISTORY   OP   FRANKLIN. 

Bakton  r.  Cook,  son  of  Milton.  Enlisted  September,  1861,  in  Com- 
pany H,  Tliircl  Battalion,  Ehode  Island  Artillery.  Ee-enlisted.  Was 
honorably  discharged. 

Joseph  W.  Cook,  son  of  Wiuslow.  Enlisted  in  Rhode  Island  Cavalry. 
Was  honorably  discharged. 

Daniel  C.  Cohbin,  son  of  Otis,  Jr.  Enlisted  Jnly,  1861.  Was  in  bat- 
tle at  Bull  Run,  Antietam,  and  Fredericksburg.  Was  wounded.  Was 
discharged  January,  1803. 

Antuony  Conner,  son  of  Isaac.  Enlisted  May,  1S61,  in  Company  I, 
Eighteenth  Regiment.  Re-enlisted.  Was  transferred  to  the  Thirty- sec- 
ond Regiment.     Was  honorably  discharged. 

Geouge  Claek,  son  of  John.  Enlisted  May,  1861,  in  Company  I, 
Eighteenth  Regiment.  Ro-enlisted.  Was  taken  prisoner.  Died  in  An- 
dersonville. 

Nath.^n  Cl.^rk,  son  of  Alfred.  Enlisted  July,  1801,  in  Company  I, 
Eighteenth  Regiment.  Re-enlisted.  Was  wounded  in  the  battle  of  the 
Wilderness.    Was  discharged.    Died  at  home  in  consequence  of  wounds. 

James  Clakk,  son  of  John.  Enlisted  July,  1861,  in  Company  B, 
Eighteenth  Regiment. 

B.VUTON  A.  CoLViN,  son  of  Ja.sper.  Enlisted  September,  1802,  in  Com- 
pany C,  Forty-fifth  Regiment.     Was  honorably  discharged. 

Cuarles  a.  Cole,  son  of  .  Enlisted  September,  1S02,  in  Com- 
pany C,  Forty-fifth  Regiment.     Was  honorably  discharged. 

Geouge  W.  J.  Cole,  son  of .  Enlisted  September,  1802,  in  Com- 
pany C,  Forty-fifth  Regiment.     Was  honorably  discharged. 

Cornelius  Dugan,  son  of  .    Enlisted  Jnly,  1802,  in  Company 

K,  Thirty-third  Regiment.  Was  transferred  to  Third  Cavalry.  Was  at 
the  capture  of  Port  Hudson.     Was  honorably  discharged. 

Joseph  Day,  son  of  Hermon.  Enlisted  Jnly,  1802,  in  Company  A, 
Thirty-fifth  Regiment.  Was  transferred  to  veterans.  Was  sick  and 
discharged. 

Edward  H.  Freeman,  son  of  James  M.  Enlisted  September,  1862, 
in  Company  C,  Forty-fifth  Regiment.     Was  honorably  discharged. 

George  M.  Farrinoton,  son  of  Nathan.  Enlisted  July,  1862,  in 
Company  A,  Thirty-fifth  Regiment.  Was  promoted  to  First  Sergeant. 
Was  in  the  battles  of  South  Mountain,  Antietam,  Snlpliur  Springs, 
Fredericksburg,  Vicksburg,  and  Jackson,  Miss.  Was  wounded  and  dis- 
charged. 

Alfred  J.  Fitspatrick,  son  of  John  L.  Enlisted  July,  1861,  in  Com- 
pany H,  Eighteenth  Regiment.     Was  honorably  discharged. 

John  M.  Fisheh,  son  of  Weston.  Enlisted  August,  1802,  in  Company  C, 
Thirty-eighth  Regiment.     Was  killed  at  Berryville  19th  September,  1804. 

Walter  M.  Fisher,  son  of  Walter  H.  Enlisted  September,  1802,  in 
Company  C,  Forty-fifth  Regiment.     Was  honorably  discharged. 

Marcus  Gii.more,  son  of  Marcus.  Enlisted  July,  1802,  in  Company 
A,  Thirty-fifth  Regiment.  Was  in  the  battles  of  South  Mountain  and 
Antietam.     Was  honorably  discharged. 


ADDENDA.  131 

William  S.  Gii.moke,  son  of  Philander.  Enlisted  in  Company  P, 
Tenth  Regiment.     Was  lionorably  discharged. 

Nathaxiel  S.  Grow,  son  of  Nathaniel.  Enlisted  September,  1862, 
in  Company  C,  Forty-fifth  Regiment.     Was  honorably  discharged. 

Samuel  E.  Gay,  son  of  Willard.  Enlisted  September,  1861,  in  Com- 
pany K,  Thirty-first  Regiment.  Was  discharged  at  Kennea,  La.,  Octo- 
ber, 1862,  for  disability. 

Plixv  a.  Holbrook,  son  of  Ellis.  Enlisted  September,  1862.  in  Com- 
pany C,  Forty-fifth  Regiment.     Was  honorably  discharged. 

Joseph  W.  Holbuook,  son  of  Eliphalet.  Enlisted  September,  1862, 
in  Company  C,  Forty-fifth  Regiment.     Was  honorably  discharged. 

Samuel  C.  Hunt,  son  of  l!ev.  Samuel.  Enlisted  September,  1862,  in 
Company  C,  Forty-fifth  Regiment.  Was  Hospital  Steward  in  Foster 
General  Hospital,  Newbern,  N.  C.     Was  honorably  discharged. 

Frank  F.  Hodges,  son  of  Willard.  Enlisted  September,  1862,  in  Com- 
pany C,  Forty-tiftli  Regiment.     Was  honorably  discharged. 

Norman  Hastings,  son  of  Nathaniel.  Enlisted  September,  1862,  in 
Company  C,  Forty-fifth  Regiment.  Died  on  return  27th  June,  1863,  as 
the  ship  was  entering  Boston  harbor. 

Albert  L.  Jordan,  son  of  Alfred.  Enlisted  July,  1862,  in  Company  I, 
Eighteenth  Regiment.  AVas  wounded  at  Gettysburg,  the  bullet  passing 
through  his  wallet  and  his  wife's  picture ;  also  at  Antietam,  Bobster  Mills 
(?),  Blackburn's  Ford,  and  Chancellorsville.    Was  honorably  discharged. 

Henry  A.  Jordan,  son  of  Alfred.  Enlisted  October,  1801,  in  Company 
H,  First  Cavalry.  Re-enlisted  in  Third  Cavalry.  Was  honorably  discharged. 

Samuel  H.  Jordan,  son  of  Alfred.  Enlisted  September,  1862,  in 
Company  C,  Forty-fifth  Regiment.  Re-enlisted  in  Company  I,  Eigh- 
teenth Regiment.  He  lost  his  left  arm  at  Cold  Harbor,  June,  1864.  Was 
discharged  disabled. 

Edwin  A.  Jordan,  son  of  Alfred.  Enlisted  October,  1861,  in  Com- 
pany H,  First  Cavalry.    Was  honorably  discharged. 

George  King,  M.  D.,  son  of  George.  Enlisted  August,  1863.  Sur- 
geon in  Sixteentli  Regiment.  Was  discharged  April,  1864.  Re-enlisted 
as  Surgeon  of  Twenty-ninth  Regiment.     Was  honorably  discharged. 

H.  D.  KiNG.SBUKY,  son  of  Nathaniel  J).  Enlisted  for  three  years  in 
Company  K,  First  Cavalry.     AVas  honorably  discharged. 

Emery  T.  Kingsbury,  son  of  Fisher  A.  Enlisted  September,  1862,  in 
Company  C,  Forty-fifth  Regiment.     Was  honorably  discharged. 

George  A.  Kingsbury,  son  of  Horatio.  Enlisted  for  nine  months 
in  Company  B,  Forty-second  Regiment.  Was  taken  prisoner  at  Brashier 
City,  La.     Was  paroled  and  discharged. 

Herbert  L.  Lincoln,  son  of  Manley.  Enlisted  July,  1862,  in  Com- 
pany A,  Thirty-fifth  Regiment.  Was  wounded  at  South  Mountain. 
Died  in  Baltimore  9th  October,  1862.     Body  interred  in  Franklin. 

Granville  Morse,  son  of  Levi  F.  Enlisted  for  three  years.  May, 
1861,  in  Company  I,  Eighteenth  Regiment.  Re-enlisted  in  Thirty-second 
Regiment.     Was  honorably  discharged. 


132  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

Lewis  L.  Millet,  son  of  John  W.  Enlisted  for  three  years  in  Com- 
pany E,  Twelfth  Regiment.  Was  wounded  at  Bull  Run  30th  August, 
1862.     Died  in  Georgetown,  D.  O.,  2d  October.     Buried  in  Fraukliu. 

Eugene  H.  Marsh,  son  of  Lewis  H.  Enlisted  June,  1861,  for  three 
years,  in  Second  Rhode  Island  Cavalry.     Was  honorably  discharged. 

jEKEMi.in  MuRPJiY,  son  of  Thomas.  Enlisted  September,  1862,  in 
Company  C,  Forty-fifth  Regiment,  for  nine  months.  Re-enlisted  in  Com- 
pany K,  Fifty-si.xth  Regiment.     Was  honorably  discharged. 

CuAKLES  M.  Nason,  son  of  George  W.  Enlisted  July,  1862,  in  Com- 
pany A,  Thirty-fiftli  Regiment,  for  three  years.  Was  honorably  dis- 
charged. 

William  E.  Nason,  son  of  George  W.  Enlisted  July,  1861,  in  Com- 
pany A,  Eighteenth  Regiment.  Detailed  to  the  Quartermaster's  Depart- 
ment.    Was  honorably  discharged. 

Geokge  W.  Nason,  Jr.,  son  of  George  W.  Volunteered  19th  April, 
1861,  in  Company  I,  Fifth  Regiment  Massacliusetts  Volunteers,  for  three 
months.  Was  discliarged  olst  July.  Re-enlisted  14tli  August,  1861,  in 
Company  H,  Twenty-tliird  Regiment  Massachusetts  Voluuteers,  for 
three  years.  On  January  4,  1862,  was  appointed  Commissary  and  Store- 
keeper in  tlie  fleet  witli  Burnside's  expedition  at  Annapolis,  Md.  March 
20th  was  transferred  to  Provost  Marslial's  Department  at  Newbern, 
N.  C.  May  2, 1864,  was  appointed  Colonel  of  Fire  Department  Regiment. 
Was  honorably  discharged  23d  June,  1865,  at  end  of  service.  [The  Fire 
Department  Regiment  consisted  of  800  white  men,  and  was  organized  by 
the  Commanding  General  botli  as  infantry  soldiers  and  to  i)rotect  the 
Government  stores  at  Newbern  from  rebel  incendiaries.  Colonel  Nason 
was  first  elected  Chief  Engineer  by  ballot  of  the  regiment,  and  then  ap- 
pointed Colonel  by  the  General  in  command.] 

Albert  D.  Nason,  son  of  George  W.  Enlisted  September,  1862,  in 
Company  C,  Forty-fifth  Regiment,  for  nine  months.  Was  honorably 
discharged. 

Albert  J.  Newell,  son  of  Arnokl  J.  Enlisted  for  three  years  in  Com- 
pany I,  Twenty-third  Regiment. 

Olney  p.  Newell,  son  of  Hiram.  Enlisted  September,  1861,  for 
three  years  in  Company  B,  First  Cavalry.     Was  honorably  discharged. 

Duane  Newell,  son  of  Nelson  C.  Enlisted  September,  1862,  for  nine 
months  in  Company  C,  Forty-fifth  Regiment.  Re-enlisted  in  Twelfth 
Heavy  Artillery.     Was  discharged  for  disability. 

George  L.  Pautridge,  son  of  Seth.  Enlisted  September,  1862,  for 
nine  mouths  in  Company  B,  Forty-second  Regiment.  Was  honorably 
discharged. 

Whipple  Peck,  son  of  Whipple.  Enlisted  for  three  years  in  First 
Rhode  Island  Regiment.  Was  discharged  for  disability  in  1864,  on  ac- 
count of  wounds. 

Horace  W.  Pillsbury,  son  of  Stephen.  Enlisted  May,  1861,  for  three 
years  in  Company  I,  Eighteenth  Regiment.  Was  wounded  at  second  bat- 
tle of  Bull  Run,  August,  1862.    Was  discharged  disabled  September,  1863. 


ADDENDA.  133 

Alfred  J.  Pierce,  son  of  Israel.  Enlisted  February,  1862.  for  three 
years  in  Third  Rhode  Island  Artillery.     Was  honorably  discharged. 

Israel  F.  Pierce,  son  of  Israel.  Enlisted  in  Rhode  Island  Cavalry. 
Was  honorably  discliarned. 

IIexhv  M.  Pickerixg,  son  of  Samuel.  Enlisted  September.  18(52,  for 
nine  months  in  Company  C.  I^orty-fiftli  Regiment.  Was  honorably  dis- 
charged. 

.Tames  M.  Ryan,  son  of  .James.  Enlisted  September,  1S62,  for  nine 
months  in  Company  C,  Forty-fifth  Regiment.  Re-enlisted  in  Twelfth 
Heavy  Artillery.     Was  honorably  discharged. 

William  Sullivan,   son  of .     Enlisted  .Tidy,   1862,   tor  three 

years  in  Company  K,  Thirty-third  Regiment. 

Charles  H.  Scott,  son  of .     Enlisted  .Inly,  1862,  for  three  years 

in  Company  A,  Thirty-fifth  Regiment. 

Smith   O.    Sayles,  son  of   Oren  W.     Enlisted  in Rhode  Lsland 

Cavalry. 

Thomas  W.  Sayles,  son  of  Oren  W.     P^nlisted  in Rhode  Island 

Cavalry. 

Michael  O.  Sullivan,  son  of  .Teremiah.  Enlisted  September,  1862, 
for  nine  months  in  Company  C.  Forty-fifth  Regiment.  Was  honorably 
discharged. 

George  W.  Thompson,  son  of  Thaddeus.  Enlisted  May,  1861,  for 
three  years  in  Company  I,  Eighteenth  Regiment.  Re-enlisted,  and  was 
in  the  whole  campaign  of  McClellan"s.  Was  at  the  second  battle  of  Bull 
Run,  Antietam,  Chancellorsville,  and  Gettysburg.  Was  transferred  to 
Thirty-second  Regiment.     Was  honor.ably  discharged. 

Ransom  Tift,  son  of  James.  Enlisted  May,  1S61,  for  three  yeai  s  in 
Company  I,  Eighteenth  Regiment.  Was  at  the  battle  of  Antietam,  .S-c. 
Was  honorably  discharged. 

William  II.  Thomas,  son  of  Sandrus.  Enlisted  July,  1861,  for  three 
years  in  Company  I,  Eighteenth  Regiment.  Re-enlisted  for  nine  months 
in  the  Forty-second  Regiment,  and  re-enlisted  as  a  veteran  in  the  Heavy 
Artillery. 

Abir.vm  W.  Wales,  son  of  Amos  A.  Enlisted  July,  1861,  for  three 
years  in  Company  I,  Eighteenth  Regiment.  Was  in  the  battles  at  South 
Mountain  and  Antietam.     Was  honorably  discharged. 

Shepard  G.  Wiggin,  son  of  Joseph.  Enlisted  August.  1862,  for  three 
years  in  Company  A,  Thirty-fifth  Regiment.  Died  in  Falmouth,  Va., 
16th  January.  1863. 

Silas  H.  Wilson,  son  of  Enoch.  Enlisted  July,  1862,  for  three  years 
in  Company  A.  Thirty-fifth  Regiment.  Was  wounded  in  the  battle  at 
South  ilountain,  taken  prisoner,  and  confined  in  Richmond.  Was  paroled 
and  discharged  for  disability. 

Otis  Winn,  son  of  Peter.  Enlisted  August,  1862,  for  three  years  in 
Company  A ,  Thirty-fifth  Regiment.  Was  in  the  battles  at  South  Moun- 
tain and  Antietam.  Died  in  Alexandria,  Va.,  6th  March,  1S63,  and  was 
buried  in  Franklin. 


134  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

Henky  J.  Ward,  son  of  Reuben.  Enlisted  for  nine  months  in  Com- 
pany C,  Forty-fifth  Regiment.     Was  honorably  discharged. 

Owen  W.  Wales,  son  of  Otis,  .Jr.  Enlisted  September,  1862,  for  nine 
months  in  Company  C,  Forty-fifth  Regiment.     Was  discharged. 

Lewis  F.  Williams,  son  of  William.  Enlisted  September,  1862,  for 
nine  months.     Re-enlisted  as  a  veteran  in  ttie  Twelfth  Heavy  Artillery. 

.John  B.  Whiting,  son  of  Sydney.  Enlisted  September,  1862,  for  nine 
months,  in  Company  0,  Forty-fifth  Regiment.  Was  honorably  dis- 
charged. 

Lewis  R.  Whitaker,  son  of  Richard.  Enlisted  for  nine  months, 
September.  1862,  in  Company  C,  Forty-fifth  Regiment.  Was  appointed 
Second  Lieutenant  3d  September.  Re-enlisted  and  appointed  Second 
Lieutenant  in  the  Twelfth  Heavy  Artillery.     Was  honorably  discharged. 

George  F.  Woodw.^kd,  son  of  Austin.  Enlisted  September,  1862,  for 
nine  months,  in  Company  C,  Forty-fifth  Regiment.  Was  honorably  dis- 
charged. 

Daniel  W.  Whiting,  son  of  Willard  C.  Enlisted  for  three  years,  in 
Company  K,  Twenty-third  Regiment.  Was  promoted  to  Sergeant.  Re- 
enlisted  for  three  years.     Was  honor.ably  discharged. 

Lewis  E.  Wales,  son  of  Otis,  Jr.  Enlisted  for  nine  months  in  Com- 
pany B,  Forty-second  Regiment.  Died  of  fever  in  Kew  Orleans,  19th 
June,  1863.     Was  buried  in  Franklin. 

John  D.  Wales,  son  of  Otis.  .Jr.  Enlisted  for  nine  months,  in  Com- 
pany B,  Forty-second  Regiment.     Was  honorably  discharged. 

George  H.  Scott,  son  of  George  W.  Enlisted  December,  1863,  for 
three  years  in  Company  I,  Eighteenth  Regiment. 

Alonzo  F.  Eddy,  son  of  Asahel.  Enlisted  December,  1863.  for  three 
years,  in  Company  I,  Eighteenth  Regiment.  Was  transferred  to  Com- 
pany D,  Thirty-ninth  Regiment.     Was  honorably  discharged. 

George  L.  Rixford,   son  of  .     Enlisted  December,   1863,   for 

three  years  in  Fourth  Cavalry.     Was  honorably  discharged. 

Jajies  F.  Snow,  son  of  John  W.  Enlisted  December,  1863,  for  three 
years,  in  Company  C,  Fifty-sixth  Regiment. 

George  R.  Russell,  son  of  Thomas.  Enlisted  September,  1868,  for 
three  years  in  Twelfth  Heavy  Artillery. 

William  G.  White,  son  of  Adam  H.  Enlisted  April,  1864,  for  three 
years,  in Battei-y. 

Dana  Follen,  son  of  James.  Enlisted  February,  1865.  Was  honor- 
ably discharged. 

It  is  believed,  though  not  so  stated  in  the  town  clerk's  records, 
that  all  the  suI•^^vors  above  were  honorabl}-  discharged  at  the  end 
of  their  sei-vice,  as  only  one  of  the  ninety-six  is  recorded  as  a 
deserter.     His  name  is  undesignated. 

The  preceding  list  of  names  is  believed  to  represent  only  na- 
tives or  residents  of  the  town  at  the  time  of  their  enlistment  in 


ADDENDA.  135 

our  quota.  But  it  is  known  not  to  include  all  the  son.s  of  Frank- 
lin who  enlisted  in  other  towns  and  States.  Such  a  list  it  were 
perhaps  impossible  to  collect.  But  it  has  been  ascertained  that 
Edward  Dean,  son  of  Luther,  entered  the  army  from  Kansas,  and 
rose  to  the  rank  of  Adjutant-General  in  the  service.  Charles  H. 
Tliaver,  son  of  Nathaniel  (see  biographical  sketches),  enlisted 
while  in  Providence  into  A.  E.  Buruside's  First  Rhode  Island  Reg- 
iment for  three  months,  and  was  in  the  tirst  Bull  Run  battle.  Re- 
enlisted  in  First  Rhode  Island  Cavalrj',  and  was  put  in  charge  of 
the  training  camp,  at  Cranston,  R.  I.,  for  which  he  was  jiromoted 
to  Seeoud  Lieutenant.  Served  in  Armj^  of  the  Potomac  and 
Shenandoah  Valley.  Was  promoted  to  First  Lieutenant  in  18G2, 
and  Captain  in  18fi3.  Was  wounded  and  taken  prisoner  at  Kel- 
ley's  Ford  ;  carried  to  Libby  Prison  :  exchanged  and  honorably 
discharged  31st  December,  1864.  Captain  Thayer  was  three  and 
one-half  years  in  the  service  and  in  thirty-one  engagements. 
And  these  are  samples  only  of  that  time.  Could  the  history  of 
those  great  armies  be  fully  Ivuown.  no  doulit  many  another  Frank- 
lin boy  who  had  migrated  to  some  other  State  could  parallel  such 
examples  from  his  own  career.  At  any  rate  we  feel  satisfied  that 
our  town  will  have  no  occasion  to  be  ashamed  of  the  rebellion 
record  of  her  sons  in  the  days  of  the  nation's  need,  and  it  has  a 
right,  not  to  say  a  dut}-.  to  erect  some  memorial  monument  or 
hall  in  honor  of  its  children's  patriotism.  What  better  than  a 
fire-proof  building  for  its  library,  town  documents  and  memorials 
of  the  past  centur}-,  and  tablets  of  its  fallen  soldiers  ! 

THE    CITIZEN  SOLDIERY 

of  the  town  deserves  a  paragraph,  not  so  much  for  any  important 
public  ser\'ice  it  ever  rendered,  as  for  the  enthusiasm  it  always 
excited  among  the  bo3's  of  half  a  centuiy  ago.  The  contour  of 
the  town  was  such  that  two  military  companies  could  far  more 
conveniently  muster  than  one.  These  were  called  the  Xorth  and 
South  companies,  and  a  degree  of  rivalry  obtained  between  them, 
sometimes  for  a  superiority  of  appearance  and  drill,  and  sometimes, 
as  the  public  sentiment  inclined,  for  superiority  of  neglect.  The 
Maj-  trainings  were  the  times  for  public  comparison  —  when  both 
companies  manceuvred  at  opposite  ends  of  the  Common,  and 
marched  around  Da\'is  Thaj'er's  store  and  Dr.  Emmon's  house, 


136  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

and  the  voices  of  the  captainf?  could  be  heard  through  the  whole 
distance.  But  the  spirit  which  animated  the  troops  in  those  days 
evaporated  before  the  next  morning. 

Training  day  was  usually  enlivened  by  a  troop  of  cavalry,  en- 
rolled mostly  within  the  town,  which  pranced  and  curveted  among 
the  sweet  fern  at  the  south  end  of  the  Common.  But  the  Franklin 
Artillery  struck  the  deepest  awe  into  boyish  hearts.  It  included 
many  members  from  Wrentham,  Ijut  its  gun-honse,  cannons,  tumbril 
and  horse  furniture  were  on  Franklin  Common,  and  here  it  paraded 
according  to  law.  Tlie  dark  blue  and  slighth--trimmed  uniforms, 
the  Bonaparte  ehapeauSj  with  their  long  black,  red-tipped  plumes, 
the  flashing  long  swords,  the  slow  march  to  the  dirge-like  "Roslyn 
Castle"  as  the  lumbering  brass  four-pounders  were  drawn  over 
the  tufts  of  grass  and  bushes  by  drag-ropes  angling  outwards 
like  wild  geese  lines  reversed,  impressed  us  with  some  idea  of  the 
solemnity  of  war,  and  fascinated  all  into  always  following  the 
artillery.  But  the  height  of  excitement  was  reached  when  the 
Franklin  Cadets  appeared.  They  had  been  drilling  for  weeks  be- 
hind the  powder-house  hill  under  a  Captain  Partridge,  from  some 
military  school,  and  believed  themselves  to  be  the  elite  of  the  militia. 
At  length  they  emerged  on  the  muster-field,  with  white  pantaloons, 
blue  coats  abundantly  buttoned  and  silver  laced,  black,  shining 
leather  caps,  and  long,  white,  perpendicular  plumes,  just  tipped  with 
black,  and  new,  glinting  muskets.  Under  the  command  of  Nathan 
Cleveland,  their  first  captain,  afterwards  colonel,  they  manreuvred 
and  marched  and  involved  themselves  with  such  admirable  precision 
as  to  attract  continued  reinforcements  so  long  as  any  military  fer\'or 
beat  in  the  public  bosom.  Their  line  of  captains  included  many  of 
the  now  prominent  citizens  of  the  town.  The  Franklin  Cadets,  the 
Wrentham  Guards,  and  the  Bellingham  Rifles,  were  the  flower  of 
the  once  Norfolk  County  Regiment. 

Probably  some  part  of  Franklin's  interest  in  military  matters 
must  be  attributed  to  the  singular  adaptation  of  its  broad  Common 
to  military  display,  which  led  to  its  frequent  selection  for  regimental 
musters.  Perhaps  this  chapter  cannot  close  better  than  by  a  de- 
scription of  an  old-time  muster,  from  a  frequent  participant  j'ears 
ago.  It  maj-  give  the  youth  of  to-daj-  some  taste  of  the  great  event 
of  boy-life  fifty  years  ago. 

The  muster  was  what  the  cattle  show  now  is  —  the   autumnal 


ADDENDA.  137 

festival,  except  that  lines  of  uniformed  men  took  the  place  of 
cattle  and  piles  of  vegetables.  It  occurred  soon  after  the  weight 
of  the  farm  work  was  done  and  the  workmen  were  ripe  for  a 
holida_y. 

The  day  before  muster,  a  detailed  squad  of  men  marked  out, 
by  a  long  rope  and  with  the  heads  of  old  axes,  a  straight  and  shal- 
low furrow  as  a  toe-line  for  the  regiment,  which  thej-  generally  ad- 
hered to  until  afternoon.  A  boundary  was  also  roped  along  the 
eastern  side  next  the  road,  which  maiked  tlie  limit  for  spectators. 
On  this  side  were  groups  of  men  building  rough  booths  for  the 
sale  of  eatables  and  drinkables,  gewgaws,  etc..  to  the  crowd  of 
the  coming  day.  It  was  late  at  night  sometimes  before  all  was 
ready. 

With  the  earliest  daylight  came  ;ioisily-driven  teams  into  town, 
bringing  soldiers  and  civilians,  lads  and  lasses,  from  far  and  near. 
Tents  and  marquees  were  hastily  pitched  around  the  meeting- 
house and  on  the  west  side  of  the  Conrmon.  Luncheon  boxes 
and  extra  garments  were  stowed  in  them,  guards  set,  and  at  6 
o'clock  the  long  roll  from  a  score  or  less  of  kettle-drums  called 
the  companies  together  to  the  turmoil  of  the  day.  Drill,  evolu- 
tions and  marchings  displayed  the  skill  of  the  captains,  and  as- 
tonished the  fast-gathering  crowds  until  i)  o'clock,  when,  at  the 
vociferous  shouting  of  the  adjutant,  the  nuisical  squads  headed 
their  companies  up  to  the  toe-line  already  descrilied.  The  musi- 
cians then  gathered  at  the  head  of  the  regiment  near  the  gun- 
house  to  receive  the  colonel  and  his  staff  whenever  they  should 
emerge  from  the  tavern  near -at  hand.  On  their  appearance  and 
reception  the  wings  wheeled  into  an  enclosing  square,  with  the 
officers  in  the  center,  and  the  chaplain,  on  horseback,  prayed  for 
the  country  and  the  protection  of  life  and  limb.  On  straightening 
out  again  there  came  the  march  of  the  single  fife  and  drum  down 
and  back  the  length  of  the  line,  the  official  inspection,  the  regi- 
mental manoeuverings  and  dodging  tlie  line  of  guards  by  the  spec- 
tators. At  1  o'clock  came  dinner  in  tent,  booth,  on  the  grass, 
anywhere,  hilariouslv  moistened  —  possibly  with  venerable  cider 
at  least,  until  at  3  o'clock  a  big  gun  and  a  solemn  cavalcade  of 
colonel  and  staff  with  chaplain  and  surgeon  called  the  scattered 
bands  into  line  for  the  grand  finale  —  the  sham  fight.  This  used 
to  be  a  gi-eat  exploit  of  strategic  skill.     Sometimes  the  infantry 


138  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

attempted  to  capture  the  guns  of  the  artillery  :  sometimes,  divided 
into  two  equal  battalions,  they  furiously  bombarded  each  other ; 
sometimes  a  tribe  of  pretentious  Indians  rushed  from  behind  Dr. 
Pratt's  barn  with  original  and  indescribable  yells  upon  the  ca\'alrv 
onh'  to  be  ignominiously  chased  back  to  their  invisible  wigwams. 
Sometimes  the  whole  regiment  formed  a  hollow  square  with  a  can- 
non at  each  corner  in  defense  of  their  officers,  and  banged  away  at 
unseen  and  unanswering  enemies,  while  the  cavalry  ran  in  all 
possible  directions  to  repel  imaginary  sallies.  Trumpets  blared, 
drums  rattled,  horses  reared  and  snorted,  children  screamed,  ram- 
rods, forgotten  in  the  hurried  loading,  hurtled  through  the  poplars, 
till  a  cloud  of  villainous  saltpetre  enwrapped  in  surtbcating  folds 
soldiers,  spectators,  booths  and  landscape,  and  until  cartridge- 
boxes  were  emptied  and  military  furore  was  satiated.  The  hub- 
bub subsided  about  .')  o'cloclc  into  an  occasional  pop  from  tardy 
muskets,  and  the  wounded  —  by  pocket  pistols — were  picked  up 
in  the  booths  and  along  the  poplars,  and  the  crowd  took  up  their 
winding  way  —  to  some  very  winding —  to  their  supperless  homes. 
And  so  ended  the  autumnal  muster,  but  we  boys  thought  it  a 
great  day. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


PROFESSIONAL  SONS  AND  SONS-IN-LAW  OF  FRANKLIN. 


The  following  roll  of  natives  and  of  those  who  have  married 
natives  of  this  town  and  have  devoted  themselves  to  some  liberal 
profession  has  been  made  up  by  a  most  diligent  and  wide  inquiry, 
assisted  by  Rev.  W.  M.  Thayer,  of  the  Centennial  Committee. 
It  is  believed  to  be  as  nearly  complete  as  it  can  now  be  made  — 
deficiencies  must  be  referred  to  defects  of  records  or  failure  of 
letters.  It  is  an  honoralilo  roll  of  which  Franklin  may  justly  be 
proud.  In  the  ratio  of  population  few  towns  can  show  a  longer 
list  of  coUegiates.  It  certainly  illustrates  the  impulse  which  one 
energetic  intellect  can  give  to  the  youug  minds  of  a  town.  Many 
of  them  have  directly  attributed  their  first  appetite  for  learning 
and  their  first  encouragement  to  seek  it  from  the  words  of  the 
half-century  pastor  of  the  one  church  then  in  town. 

It  is  admitted  that  Franklin  has  exerted  a  wide  infiuence  in  the 
land  through  her  educated  children.  Maj-  their  power  for  the 
true  and  the  good  never  diminish,  but  increase  in  width  and  depth, 
so  that  it  may  continue  to  be  said  of  her  coming  sons,  with  increas- 
ing satisfaction  and  larger  numbers.  "  this  man  was  born  there." 

George  A.  Ai>ams,  Esq.,  son  of  Gardner  and  Eunice  R.  Adams, 
was  born  in  Springfield  3d  April,  1850,  but  returned  soon  after 
to  Franklin,  where  he  attended  school  and  in  1869  graduated  at 
Dean  Academy.  He  then  entered  Tuft's  College,  but  in  conse- 
quence of  a  serious  fall  was  obliged  to  remit  study  for  a  year.  In 
1871  and  1872  he  was  able  to  teach  school  in  Goddard  Seminary, 
Barre,  Vt..  where  he  began  the  study  of  law.  In  1873,  May  8th, 
he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Dedhaoi,  and  in  .Tuly  opened  an 
office  in  Attleboro,  where  he  now  is  in  his  profession. 


140  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

Mr.  Adams  married.  November,  1872,  Clara  I.,  daughter  of 
Horace  M.  Gowen,  of  Franklin.     Thej-  have  two  children. 

Eev.  James  Adams  was  son  of  Dea.  James  and  Sarah  (Bacon) 
Adams,  and  was  born  in  South  Franklin  21st  October,  1800. 
After  the  usual  public  school  training  he  studied  Latin  a  few 
months  and  at  16  entered  a  printing  office  in  Dedhara.  About 
1819  he  went  to  Portland,  Me.,  where,  finding  no  room  in  a 
Congi-egational  churcli,  he  attended  and  lipcame  interested  in  the 
Episcopal  service.  In  1836  he  removed  to  Burlington,  N.  J.,  and 
edited  the  Burlington  Gazette  until  18.39,  which  paper  was  largely 
instrumental  during  that  time  in  carrving  the  State  for  the  Whigs. 
Meanwhile,  under  the  direction  of  Bishop  Doane,  he  studied 
for  the  ministry  and  was  ordained  bj-  the  Bishop  2ath  April,  1839. 
He  devoted  himself  henceforth  chiefly  to  the  upbuilding  of  feeble 
churches  in  New  Jersey  and  Connecticut.  He  preached  in  Flem- 
ington,  Alexandria,  and  Lambertville  aliout  ten  j-ears.  Thence 
he  went  to  Cohoes,  N.  J.,  until  1851.  Then  was  assistant  rector 
in  Elizalieth.  He  next  removed  to  New  York,  where  he  aided  in 
establishing  the  "  House  of  Mercy,"  and  acted  as  chaplain  on 
Blackwell's  Island  until  he  fell  into  a  severe  sickness.  On  recov- 
er}^ Mr.  Adams  went  to  Redding,  Conn.,  for  two  years  ;  to  Bethany 
until  1858,  thence  to  Tarifville  for  two  years,  and  thence  to  Po- 
quetanuock,  where  he  died  as  rector  of  St.  James  church  24th 
October,  1869.     It  was  said  of  him  —  "  faithful  unto  death." 

Rev.  Mr.  Adams  married,  28th  November.  1S27,  Miss  Caroline 
Brooks  of  Milton.  Mass.,  who  died  at  Lamliertville,  N.  J.,  10th 
Ma}-,  1845.  They  had  five  children,  only  two  of  whom  are  now 
living —  Ellen  AVinslow  Adams  of  Hyde  Park,  and  Julia  Frances 
Adams  of  Medway. 

Prof.  Ai-Dis  Samuel  Allen,  M.  D.,  was  born  in  Franklin  13th 
November,  1803,  and  was  the  oldest  child  of  Dea.  Samuel  and 
Sarah  Wood  (Aldis)  Allen.  Some  of  his  earlj'  j-ears  were  spent 
in  the  family  of  Dr.  Emmons,  where  he  received  his  first  impulse 
towards  a  collegiate  education.  In  the  family  of  Dr.  Ide  he  be- 
came a  Christian,  and  began  the  study  of  Latin  with  Dr.  Ide. 
He  completed  his  preparation  by  two  jears'  stud}'  in  Phillips' Acad- 
emy, and  entered  Yale  College,  graduating  in  1827.  He  was 
teacher  of  music,  gymnastics  and  penmanship  one  year  in  Dr. 
Sereno  Dwight's  Gymnasium,  and  then  studied  medicine  with  Dr. 


ADDENDA.  141 

Smith  of  New  Haven.  After  graduation  as  M.  D.  he  settled  in 
Bridgeport,  Conu.  In  1833  he  went  to  Jaeksomille,  III.,  where 
he  died  of  a  fever,  9th  August,  1833.  He  had  the  character  of  a 
pei'fect  Christian  gentleman,  and  his  death  was  a  triumph  of  the 
Christian  religion  which  he  professed. 

Prof.  Allen  married  Eliza  M.  Weeks  of  Jamaica,  L.  I.  Of  his 
children  we  are  not  informed. 

Benjamin  Franklin  Allen  was  son  of  George  and  Eunice 
(Haven)  Allen,  and  born  in  Franklin.  His  mother  was  a  daugh- 
ter of  Asa  and  Eunice  (Aldis)  Haven,  and  was  born  in  Frankhn 
17th  JMarch,  1773.  The  tamilj'  resided  in  several  places,  and 
finally  settled  in  Alban}',  N.  Y.,  where  the  father  died  young, 
leaving  only  the  above  son.  B.  Franklin  went  to  live  with  his 
relative,  Hon.  Asa  Aldis,  in  St.  Albans,  Vt.  He  fitted  for  col- 
lege in  the  academy  there,  and  graduated  at  Brown  University', 
1817.  After  graduation  he  became  Principal  of  Greenwich  Acad- 
emy, but  died  at  the  end  of  his  first  year.  His  intended  marriage 
with  Miss  Lucia  Richmond  of  Providence  was  never  consummated, 
and  his  promise  of  usefulness,  so  suddenlv  cut  off,  was  a  great  grief 
to  his  friends. 

Judge  Asa  Alois,*  son  of  Nathan  and  Sarah  (Metcalf)  Aldis, 
was  born  in  Franklin,  14th  April,  1770.  His  mother  was  a  daugh- 
ter of  Jonathan  Metcalf.  She  died,  leaving  only  this  child,  a  little 
over  two  years  old.  His  father  was  a  merchant  in  Franklin,  but 
was  preparing  to  move  to  Boston  when  he  died,  in  May,  1775, 
thus  leaving  Asa  an  orphan  of  five  years.  His  father  was  ac- 
cused of  being  a  Tory,  which  his  intimac}-  with  a  British  officer 
and  his  removal  to  Boston,  seemed  to  justify,  but  which  his  friends, 
Dr.  Emmons  in  particular,  would  not  admit.  He  probably 
dreaded  disturbances  and  took  no  side  in  the  coming  strife.  The 
people,  however,  on  his  death,  demanded  the  confiscation  of  his 
propert}',  and  a  mob  broke  open  his  store  and  seized  the  goods,  but 
the}'  found  no  account  books,  notes,  or  papers  of  value  to  confirm  or 
dispel  their  suspicions. 


*It  was  only  upon  particular  request  that  the  following  has  been  furnished 
from  a  sketch,  prepared  for  the  family  alone  by  Mrs.  Judge  Kellogg  of  Brattle, 
boro,  Vt.,  daughter  of  Judge  Aldis.  The  light  it  casts  upon  the  olden  times  will 
justify  its  full  quotation. 


142 


HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 


Judge  Stephen  Metcalf,  the  Ijrother  of  Asa's  mother,  took  the 
guardianship  of  the  lad,  and  placed  him  with  a  sister  of  his  mother, 
the  wife  of  Rev.  Daniel  Pond,  in  Medway.  This  family  were 
warm  Republicans,  and  his  aunt  had  made  a  vow,  when  the  tea 
was  thrown  overboard,  that  another  cup  of  tea  should  never  be  made 
in  her  house.  The  only  Boston  paper  taken  in  their  neighborhood 
came  to  Mr.  Pond's,  and  on  its  weekly  arrival  all  gathered  at  his 
house  in  the  evening  to  hear  it  read.  The3'  sat  in  the  large 
kitchen  —  little  Asa  on  the  dye-tub  on  one  side  of  the  fire-place, 
while  his  uncle  read.  The  listeners  had  relatives  and  friends  in  the 
war,  and  the  news  was  commented  upon  and  deeply  pondered  in 
this  as  in  all  New  England  homes. 

One  illustrati^•e  incident  of  the  spirit  of  the  lad.  A  certain 
cooper  alone  disapproved  of  Washington.  For  weeks  he  had  said, 
•■  Washington  should  have  been  here  —  he  should  have  been  there 
—  he  was  always  doing  wrong."  No  one  ever  replied.  One  night, 
when  they  were  all  gone,  the  little  boy  stretched  up  to  his  aunt 
saying,  "Aunt,  why  don't  they  put  out  Washington  and  put  in 
cooper  White?" 

Another  anecdote  illustrates  the  spirit  of  the  household.  On  a 
dark,  windy,  rainy  November  night,  as  they  were  all  sitting  around 
the  fire,  there  was  a  knock  on  the  outside  door.  On  opening,  there 
stood  a  man  belated,  and  it  was  some  ways  to  a  tavern.  At- 
tracted by  their  light,  he  had  stopped  to  ask  for  a  night's  lodging. 
"Certainh^  we  can  keep  you,"  said  both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pond,  for 
they  were  hospitable.  ••Have  you  a  horse?"  ••Yes."  And  out 
went  Mr.  Pond  and  a  boy  to  take  care  of  the  horse.  The  stranger 
was  given  a  seat  by  the  fire.  On  learning  that  he  had  had  no  sup- 
per, Mrs.  Pond  and  her  daughter  prepared  the  table,  and  Mrs.  Pond 
was  soon  cooking  some  meat  over  the  fire,  when  the  conversation 
took  a  religious  turn.  In  reply  to  something  he  said,  she  answered , 
"  But  Moses,  in  describing  the  plague  of  Eg3i)t,  said — "  "  What 
of  that,"  says  he,  ••IMoses  was  nothing  but  a  conjuror!"  Mrs. 
Pond  looked  around  at  him  and  asked.  '•  "What  did  j'ou  say  about 
Moses?"  "I  said  Moses  was  nothing  but  a  conjuror,  and  he 
was  not."  Ofl"  came  tlie  pan  from  the  fire.  ••  I  can  cook  you  no 
supper ;  no  man  who  disbelieves  the  Bible  and  calls  Moses,  the 
servant  of  the  Lord,  a  conjuror,  can  stay  in  my  house  over  night." 
Just  then  Mr.  Pond  came  in  from  feeding  the  horse.     She  repeated 


ADDENDA.  143 

the  conversation,  adding,  "we  cannot  keep  him."  "No,"  said 
Mr.  Pond,  "  I  will  get  j'our  horse."  The  man  begged  to  stay, 
but  to  no  purpose,  and  he  had  to  go  on  his  journe}-  in  the  dark. 
It  was  in  such  a  family  Asa  passed  his  childhood  and  laid  the 
foundation  of  his  character.  He  afterward  said  of  them  he  never 
knew  them  to  do  a  thing  thej-  believed  to  be  wrong. 

At  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary-  War,  and  when  the  Independ- 
ence of  the  States  had  been  acknowledged,  Judge  Metcalf  received 
a  request  from  a  Mr.  Amorj^  of  Boston,  to  bring  Mr.  Nathan 
Aldis'  son  to  Boston.  He  weut,  and  was  advised  to  ascertain 
from  the  General  Court,  then  in  session,  what  disposition  was  to 
I)e  made  of  jMr.  Aldis'  property.  On  the  declaration  of  the  law- 
3-er.  Mr.  Sullivan,  that  Mr.  Aldis  died  one  year  and  two  months 
before  the  Declaration  of  ludependenee,  and  that  no  evidence  ex- 
isted that  he  had  ever  said  or  done  anything  against  the  cause  or 
measures  of  the  revolutionary  party,  the  court  decided  unani- 
mously that  there  was  no  law  that  would  warrant  the  conliscation 
of  the  estate,  and  that  it  should  be  restored  to  the  son.  After  the 
decision  Mr.  Amory  informed  Judge  Metcalf  that  he  had  just  re- 
ceived Mr.  Aldis'  papers,  which  were  supposed  to  be  lost.  Capt. 
John  Goldsbury,*  foreseeing  the  tumultuous  times  coming,  had 
gone,  on  Mr.  Aldis'  death,  privately  to  Franklin,  and  secured  the 
papers,  and,  unknown  to  his  relatives,  had  sent  them  to  England. 
These  papers  had  been  just  sent  back. 

Au  anecdote  is  connected  with  these  papers  illustrative  of  the 
times.  Judge  Metcalf  said  to  Asa,  as  they  examined  them,  "I 
think  Dea.  Slocum  owed  your  father  several  hundred  dollars,  but 
I  iind  no  note.  Go  and  ask  the  deacon."  He  did  so.  "Yes," 
said  the  deacon.  "  I  owed  your  father,  and  you  will  find  the  note 
among  the  papers."  Still  they  could  not  find  it.  "Well,"  re- 
plied the  deacon,  "  if  you  don't  find  it,  I  owed  it,  and  shall  pa^' 
you  all  the  same."  About  two  years  after  Asa  received  a  letter 
from  Capt.  Goldsbury  in  Halifax,  N.  S.,  wishing  to  see  him.  He 
went  at  once  to  his  father's  old  friend,  who  told  him  much  about 
his  father,  and  the  difficulties  he  had  in  getting  the  papers  in  Frank- 


*  Capt.  Goldsbury  had  been  one  of  the  chief  men  in  Franklin,  but  from  sym- 
pathy with  the  British  side  had  gone  out  of  the  way  of  the  coming  strife  for  lib- 
erty to  Nova  Scotia,  where  he  remained  afterwards  till  his  death. 


144  BISTORT   OF    FRANKLIN. 

lin.  ■  Inquiring  after  Dea.  Slociim,  he  took  a  paper  from  his 
pocket-book,  and  handing  it  to  young  Aldis,  said,  "  Asa,  Deacon 
Slocum  saved  my  life.  I  wanted  to  see  a  young  lady  friend  of 
mine  near  Franklin.  We  had  not  evacuated  Boston.  Washing- 
ton was  encamped  at  Cambridge,  and  I  could  get  to  Franklin  only 
by  crossing  through  his  lines.  I  forged  a  pass  which  took  me 
through,  but  they  soon  discovered  Washington's  signature  to  be 
false,  and  sent  a  detachment  after  me  as  a  spy.  I  was  no  sp3',  but 
I  fled  for  my  life.  I  hid  three  days  in  the  woods.  Dea.  Slocum 
fed  me,  and  then  secreted  me  in  his  own  house  till  I  got  off  to  Bos- 
ton. When  I  saw  this  note  against  him  among  the  papers,  1  took 
it  out  and  kept  it.  It  is  the  only  paper  I  ever  withheld.  I  vowed 
that  Myou  got  the  money  I  would  bring  3'ou  the  note,  but  if  that 
cursed  government  got  it,  they  should  never  have  a  penny  from 
the  deacon !" 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pond  and  their  daughter  were  now  dead,  and 
during  the  settlement  of  the  estate  Asa  made  his.  home  mostly 
with  his  uncle,  Ebenezer  Aldis,  in  Mendon.  He  alwaj's  acknowl- 
edged this  period  —  from  15  to  19  —  to  have  been  the  wild  period 
of  his  life,  when  he  went  for  fun  everywhere.  His  aversion  to 
ardent  spirits  saved  him.  He  said  Dr.  Emmons  never  gave  him 
up,  but  passed  many  an  hour  with  him.  talking  of  his  parents  and 
other  things  interesting  to  a  youth.  At  19  he  applied  to  Rev. 
Caleb  Alexander,  of  Mendon  —  afterwards  a  celebrated  teacher  in 
Fairfield,  N.  Y.  —  to  fit  him  for  college  ;  but  he  hesitated  on  ac- 
count of  his  then  reckless  and  disputatious  reputation.  But  Dr. 
Emmons  urged  him  and  he  took  young  Aldis  into  his  famih-,  and 
when  he  left  Mr.  Alexander  said  he  never  had  a  more  obedient 
pupil.     Aldis'  gi-atitude  to  Dr.  Emmons  lasted  through  life. 

Asa  Aldis  was  graduated  at  Brown  rTniversity,  in  1796,  and 
studied  law  with  Judge  Howell  of  Providence.  After  a  short  resi- 
dence in  Chepachet,  E.  I.,  he  was  married,  and  in  1802  removed 
to  St.  Albans.  Vt.,  where  he  entered  upon  his  profession  with 
characteristic  zeal.  In  the  years  of  the  embargo,  and  during  the 
War  of  1812,  he  was  a  zealous  supporter  of  Jefferson's  and  Madi- 
son's administrations.  This  was  the  unpopular  side  in  northern 
Vermont,  but  his  violent  political  opponents  were  often  his  warm 
personal  friends.  On  one  point  he  was  almost  alone.  He  would 
never  permit  one  dollar's  worth  of  smuggled  goods  to  be  brought 


ADDENDA.  145 

into  his  house,  and  even  refused  to  be  retained  by  his  old  clients 
in  any  case,  if  they  were  smugglers.  But  while  he  was  the  Gov- 
ernment's supporter  and  adviser,  he  refused  all  oflice  and  gave  his 
ad\-ice  gratuitously.  At  the  close  of  the  War  of  1812,  he  was 
persuaded  to  accept  the  office  of  Chief  Justice  of  Vermont,  but 
declined  a  second  election,  in  spite  of  the  entreaties  even  of  po- 
htical  opponents. 

Judge  Aldis  was  a  supporter  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  especially 
in  his  anti-slavery  seutmients.  Having  joined  an  abolition  soci- 
etj-  while  in  Pro^^dence,  he  adhered  to  its  principles  in  its  dark- 
est day,  and  was  among  the  leaders  of  the  Uberty  part}-  in  his  State. 

After  50  j'ears  of  age  he  professed  religion  and  was  confirmed 
in  the  Episcopal  church  b}'  Bishop  C4riswold.  He  was  also  an 
especial  friend  of  schools.  Of  his  integritj'  it  was  said,  after  his 
death,  that  no  one  could  say  that  he  had  wronged  one  man.  He 
died  IGth  October,  1847.  aged  77  years.  He  left  at  least  one  son, 
Hon.  Asa  O.  Aldis,  an  Associate  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
and  a  daughter,  the  wife  of  his  successor.  Judge  L.  C.  Kellogg,  of 
Vermont.  The  view  on  the  following  page  will  be  interesting  as 
a  reUc  of  ante-revolutionary  daj's.  The  building  on  the  right  is 
the  "old  store"  ah-eady  mentioned.  The  Aldis  homestead  is  on 
the  left.     Both  are  to-day  as  the  photograph  reflects  them. 

J.  Francis  Atwood,  M.  D.,  son  of  Jonathan  Frank  and  Anna 
M.  (Pond)  Atwood,  was  born  in  Frankhn  20th  August,  1846.  In 
1864  he  entered  Phillip's  Exeter  Academy,  thence  entered  Har- 
vard Universitj',  graduating  in  1869.  He  passed  immediately  into 
the  medical  school  and  received  his  degi-ee  in  1873.  By  competi- 
tive examination  he  obtained  first  choice  of  places  in  the  Boston 
City  Hospital,  and  was  appointed  Opthalmic  Lecturer.  After  a 
year's  service  Dr.  Atwood  went  to  Europe  for  further  study,  in 
London  and  Paiis  and  in  the  University  of  Vienna.  He  returned 
in  1874  and  opened  an  office  in  St.  Paul,  Minn.,  where  he  is  now 
surgeon  in  the  Minnesota  Eye  and  Ear  Infinnarj-. 

Dr.  Atwood  married,  20th  September,  1876,  Emma,  daughter 
of  Samuel  Colhoun,  Esq. ,  of  St.  Paul. 

Hekrt  Metcalf  Bacox  was  born  in  the  north  part  of  Franklin, 
24th  January,  1854.  He  is  the  son  of  George  W.  and  Juha 
Adams  (Brooks)  Bacon.  He  fitted  for  college  one  year  at  Chase 
&  Scott's  Academy,  Philadelphia,   and  one  year  at  the  Chelsea 

10 


146 


HISTORY   OP   FRANKLIN. 


High  School.  He  graduated  at  Amherst  College,  1876.  .Since 
graduation  he  has  been  engaged  in  school  teaching,  and  is  at  this 
date  in  Armstrong,  Kansas,  at  the  head  of  a  school. 

Rev.  Abijah  Eichardson  Baker,  D.  D.,  was  born  in  Franklin, 
30th  August,  1805,  and  was  the  son  of  Captain  David  and  Jemima 
(Richardson)  Baker.  Becoming  a  Christian  quite  early,  he  fitted 
for  college  in  Medwa}'  and  at  Bradford,  and  entered  Amherst  Col- 
lege, whence  he  was  graduated  18.30.     He  opened  a  school  in  Med- 


THE    ALOIS    HOMESTEAD    AND    STORE. 

way  village,  which  gained  quite  a  distinction,  but  left  it  after  two 
years  for  Andover  Seminary.  After  graduation  here  in  1835,  he 
preached  in  Ware,  "West  Hartford,  Conn.,  and  at  Albanj^  N.  Y., 
and  finally  was  settled  in  Medford,  25th  April,  1838.  In  his  min- 
istry of  ten  years  he  received  200  persons  into  the  church.  After 
his  dismission,  in  1849,  he  devoted  himself  chiefly  to  building  up 
new  or  feeble  churches,  as  in  Lynn  and  South  Boston. 

Dr.  Baker,  soon  after  leaving   Medford,   engaged  in  Sundaj'- 


ADDENDA.  147 

school  vroi'k.  He  published  a  series  of  question  books  ou  the 
Assembly's  Catechism,  or  "The  Catechism  tested  bj- the  Bible." 
This  has  been  translated  into  sis  languages,  and  was  used  in  the 
Sandwich  Islands  bj'  order  of  the  goverumeut,  and  in  the  mission 
schools  of  Mt.  Lebanon.  Half  a  million  copies  have  been  sold. 
He  also  prepared  a  "  Commeutarj-  ou  the  Sermon  ou  the  Mount," 
in  four  octavo  volumes,  besides  writing  mauj'  magazine  articles. 
He  received  the  degree  of  D.  D.  in  1870,  from  Austin  College. 

Dr.  Baker  married,  1st  October,  1835,  Harriet  Newell,  daughter 
of  Rev.  Leonard  Woods,  D.  D.,  of  Andover,  and  had  six  sons, 
two  of  whom  are  in  the  ministr}',  two  in  process  of  preparation, 
and  one  a  physician.  The  eldest  died  in  infancy.  Dr.  Baker 
himself  died,  3'Oth  April,  1876,  in  his  71stj'ear,  leaving  a  wide  cir- 
cle of  friends  to  lament  his  decease. 

David  Erastus  Baker  is  the  sou  of  Erastus  Emmons  and  Abb^' 
M.  (Bacon)  Baker,  and  was  born  in  FrankUu  30th  March,  1857. 
After  a  public  school  education  he  entered  the  Massachusetts 
Agricultural  College  at  Amherst,  and  graduated  in  the  full  course 
of  stud^',  1878.  He  is  at  present  teaching  a  public  school  in  his 
native  town. 

Rev.  Mortimer  Blake,  D.  D.,  sou  of  Ira  and  Laura  (Mowry) 
Blake,  of  Franklin,  was  born  in  Pittston,  Me.,  10th  June,  1813, 
but  removed  with  liis  parents  to  Franklin  iu  his  fifth  j'ear.  He  at- 
tended Day's  Academy',  Wrentham,  and  the  Classical  Institute  at 
Medway  village,  also  studied  privately  with  Rev.  E.  Smallev  of 
FraukUn;  graduated  at  Amherst  College,  1835,  whence  also  he 
received  the  degree  of  D.  D.  iu  18G8.  After  graduation  he 
opened  an  academy  in  Franklin,  which  he  taught  thi-ee  years, 
until  called  to  the  Principalship  of  Hopkins  Academj-  in  Hadley. 
He  resigned  this  position  after  one  year,  to  enter  the  ministiy,  for 
which  he  had  previously  prepared  with  Rev.  Dr.  Smallev,  and  been 
approbated  by  the  Meudon  Association.  He  was  ordained  o\er 
the  church  in  Mansfield,  -Ith  December,  1839  ;  dismissed  in  No- 
vember, 1855,  to  take  the  pastorate  of  the  Winslow  church,  Taun- 
ton, 4th  December  following.  He  still  remains  among  his  own 
people. 

Dr.  Blake  married  Haniet  Louisa  Daniels,  daughter  of  Joseph 
and  Susan  (Fisher)  Daniels  of  Franklin,  and  has  four  children,  two 
sons  and  two  daughters.     Percv  M.,  for  four  vears  Civil  Engineer 


148  HISTORY   OP   FRANKLIN. 

in  United  States  Army,  is  now  pursuing  sanitarj'  engineering ; 
Lucien  I.  graduated  at  Amherst  College,  1877,  since  has  been 
Principal  of  the  Franklin  High  School ;  one  daughter  married 
Bradford  F.  Morse  of  Taunton. 

The  portrait  of  Dr.  Blake  was  procured  and  is  prefixed  as  a 
frontispiece,  by  vote  of  the  Centennial  Committee. 

Rev.  Nathaniel  Chapman,  a  son-in-law  of  Franklin,  is  a  na- 
tive of  Mt.  Vernon,  Me.  He  did  not  graduate  at  college,  as  we 
can  learn,  but  took  a  private  course  of  study  and  was  ordained  as 
pastor  of  the  Congi-egational  church  in  Bristol,  Me.,  15th  Sep- 
tember, 1824.  He  was  dismissed  7th  Februarj-,  18.33,  and  in- 
stalled at  Camden,  Me.,  14th  Ma}',  1835.  Since  then  we  have 
gained  no  further  information.  * 

Mr.  Chapman  mamed,  June,  1823,  Sally,  daughter  of  Robert 
and  Olive  (Richardson)  Pond,  of  Franklin,  and  has  had  four 
children. 

Dr.  Gilbert  Clakk,  son  of  Nathan  and  Nancy  (Payson)  Clark, 
was  born  in  South  Frankliu,  30th  December,  1823.  He  was  edu- 
cated for  his  profession  in  the  Eclectic  Medical  College,  of  Phila- 
delphia. After  receiving  his  degree,  he  settled  in  Warren,  R.  I., 
where  he  died  24th  March,  1874. 

Dr.  Clark  mamed  Miss  Eliza  Whiting,  but  left  no  children. 

Rev.  James  Royal  Gushing,  a  son-in-law  of  this  town,  was 
born  in  Salisbury,  N.  H.,  23d  November,  1800.  His  youth  was 
spent  in  Thetford,  Vt.,  under  the  ministiy  of  Rev.  Dr.  Burton. 
He  studied  his  theological  course  in  Bangor  Seminary,  and  was 
first  settled  in  Boxboro,  Mass.,  afterwards  installed,  10th  June, 
1835,  as  pastor  of  the  Congregational  church  in  East  Haverhill, 
where  he  remained  until  1844.  He  next  served  as  cit}'  missionary 
in  Boston  until  his  settlement  in  Wells,  Me.,  where  he  labored 
successfully  for  ten  years.  In  1854  he  became  acting  pastor  of  a 
new  church  in  East  Tauuton,  where  he  remained  seven  j'ears,  dur- 
ing which  time  he  secured  the  means  to  build  their  present  neat 
and  commodious  meeting-house.  In  1861  he  removed  to  North 
Rochester  for  seven  j'ears  and  thence  to  the  Cape,  where  he  sup- 
plied successively  the  churches  in  Cotuit,  Marston's  Mills  and 
AVaquoit,  until  his  age  and  ill-health  compelled  him  to  retire  to 
his  original  home  in  Haverhill,  where  he  now  resides. 

Mr.  Gushing  married  for  his  second  wife,  14th  November,  1843, 


ADDENDA.  149 

Unity  Mj-ra  Daniels,  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Susan  (Fisher) 
Daniels,  a  native  of  Franklin,  who  still  lives. 

Rev.  Henry  Metcalf  Daniels  was  born  in  Franklin  16th  Maj-, 
1824,  and  is  the  son  of  Henry  and  Mar3'  (Metcalf)  Daniels.  At- 
tended school  at  Franklin  Acadeni}-  and  engaged  some  time  in 
teaching,  farming,  etc.  Entered  Chicago  Theological  Seminary 
in  18.58,  graduating  in  1861.  He  was  very  soon  after,  June  25th, 
installed  pastor  of  the  Congregational  church,  "Winnebago,  111., 
where  he  remained  until  1875.  With  patriotic  impulse  he  accepted 
a  commission  from  the  A.  H.  M.  S.,  and  went  to  Dallas,  Texas, 
where  he  is  now,  representing  the  politj-  of  the  Pilgiims  with  hope- 
ful success. 

Mr.  Daniels  married,  17th  March,  1811,  Susan  Nye,  daughter 
of  Caleb  T.  and  Susan  (Cleaveland)  Nye,  of  Franklin.  She 
died  27th  October,  1873,  leaving  one  daughter,  now  Mrs.  George 
E.  Mariner,  of  Sparta,  Wis.  Mr.  Daniel's  present  wife  was  Mrs. 
Fanny  B.  Nye,  formerly-  of  Freeport,  Jle. 

Rev.  William  Haven  Daniels,  j-oungest  son  of  Henry  and 
Mary  (Metcalf)  Daniels,  was  born  in  Franklin,  18th  May,  1836, 
and  was  educated  in  Wilbraham  (Mass.)  Academy  and  the  Wes- 
leyan  University  at  Middletown,  Conn.  After  the  usual  four 
years'  course  in  theology  in  the  Rock  River  Conference  he  was 
admitted,  in  1872,  as  preacher  in  the  Methodist  F]piscopal  church. 
Mr.  Daniels  has  performed  pastoral  service  in  .Jeucksville,  Mass., 
St.  Johns,  N.  B.,  Normal,  Chicago,  and  River  Forest,  111.  He  was 
also  for  a  time  Professor  of  Belles  Lettres  in  the  Illinois  Wesleyan 
University  at  Bloomington,  111.,  General  Agent  of  the  Chicago 
Theological  Seminary,  Librarian  of  the  Northwestern  University, 
at  Evanston,  111. 

Mr.  Daniels  has  lately  turned  himself  chiefly  to  literaiy  work, 
and  has  issued  some  volumes,  such  as  '•  D.  L.  Moody  and  His 
Work,"  "  The  Temperance  Reform  and  its  Great  Reformers,"  the 
former  of  which  has  widely  circulated  and  been  translated  into 
French  and  Welsh.  He  married  a  daughter  of  Dea.  Samuel  P. 
Merrick  of  Chicopee,  in  1861,  September  11th,  and  has  one  child, 
a  daughter.     He  resides  at  present  at  River  Forest,  near  Chicago. 

Willis  George  Daniels  was  born  in  Franklin,  22d  October, 
1806,  and  was  the  son  of  Joseph  and  Susan  (Fisher)  Daniels. 
Becoming  early  converted  to  the  gospel,  he  turned  himself  to  a 


150  HISTORY    OF    FRAXKLIN. 

preparation  for  the  ministr}'.  He  fitted  for  college  at  Day's 
Academj-.  in  Wrentham,  and  entered  Amherst  College  in  1828,  but 
ill-health  compelled  him  to  leave  in  his  Sophomore  j-ear,  and  he 
died  of  consumption  at  his  home,  15th  January,  1830,  to  the  great 
disappointment  of  his  famil}'  and  friends. 

Oliyer  Dean,  M.  D.,  was  born  in  Franklin,  18th  Februarj', 
1783,  and  was  the  son  of  Seth  and  Edna  (Pond)  Dean.  After 
learning  English  brandies  in  the  town  schools  he  studied  Latin  in 
the  Framingham  Academy,  and  Greek  with  Rev.  Dr.  Crane  of 
Northbridge.  lie  then  began  the  studj'  of  medicine  witli  Dr. 
James  Mann,  of  Wrentham,  but  completed  it  with  Dr.  W.  Ingalls 
of  Boston,  and  received  his  degree  of  M.  D.  from  the  Massachu- 
setts Medical  Society,  in  1809.  He  practiced  in  Boston  until 
1812,  when  he  removed  to  Jledway,  but  his  health  broke  down 
under  his  labors  here,  and  in  1817  he  left  his  profession  to  assume 
the  superintendenc}'  of  the  Medwaj-  Cotton  Mills,  which  had  been 
built  in  1804,  burnt  in  October.  1807,  and  ro-l)uilt  in  1809,  by 
Dr.  Abijah  Richardson,  Luther  Metcalf,  "William  Felt,  and  others. 
Dr.  Dean  held  this  office  for  nine  j-ears.  In  1826  he  was  chosen 
Superintendent  of  tlio  then  young  Amoskeag,  N.  H.,  Manufactur- 
ing Company,  and  continued  there  for  eight  3-ears.  Having  ac- 
cumulated a  fortune  b}-  slcillful  management,  he  retired  to  a  farm 
in  Framingham  from  1834  to  1844.  From  the  latter  date  until 
1851  he  resided  in  Boston.  He  next  purchased  a  portion  of  the 
farm  of  the  deceased  Dr.  Emmons  and  made  Franklin  his  liome 
until  his  death. 

Dr.  Dean  devoted  his  last  years  chiefly  to  plans  for  the  educa- 
tion of  youth,  which  resulted  in  the  founding  of  the  academ}-  ap- 
propriatelj'  bearing  his  name,  and  which  his  large  wealth  enabled 
him  amply  to  endow. 

Dr.  Dean  first  married  Caroline  Francoeur  of  "Wrentham,  resi- 
dent in  Boston.  She  died  27th  October,  1866,  and  he  married,  in 
1868,  Mrs.  Louisa  C.  Hames  of  Wrentham,  who  still  lives.  He 
left  no  children. 

Hon.  Alexander  DeWitt,  whom  Franklin  has  a  double  reason 
for  claiming  as  a  son-in-law,  as  his  wife  belonged  to  this  town, 
was  born  in  New  Braintree,  2d  April,  1798,  one  of  a  family  of 
nine  children.  His  parents  were  too  poor  to  give  him  any  oppor- 
tunities of  education,  and  he  was  compelled  to  do  such  small  work 


/%^^  0^2^, 


ADDENDA.  151 

among  his  neighbors  as  he  could  find.  At  15  he  went  to  Dudley 
as  apprentice  in  a  small  wool  and  cotton  factory,  where  he  staid 
five  }-ears.  In  1818  he  came  to  Franklin  and  was  employed  in 
Dr.  N.  Miller's  thread  factory  at  River  End.  In  1819  he  leased 
a  larger  mill  in  Fosboro.  Here  he  peddled  his  own  thread  in  a 
wagon  from  place  to  place,  carrying  his  food  with  him.  Conquer- 
ing his  natural  pride  against  such  a  seeminglj-  begging  expedition, 
when  he  found  that  he  must  urge  his  own  wares  to  effect  anj'  sales, 
he  pushed  himself  more  boldlj-  and  soon  secured  a  circle  of  trade 
for  all  the  goods  he  could  manufacture. 

In  1820,  June  5th,  he  married  Mary,  daughter  of  William 
Makepeace  of  Franklin,  and  in  conjunction  with  his  father-in-law, 
who  built  a  mill,  carried  on  the  thread  business  in  Unionville  in 
this  town.  In  1825  he  removed  to  Oxford,  where,  with  three  of 
his  brothers,  he  built  the  then  largest  thread-mill  in  the  United 
States.  Prosperity  attended  these  ventures,  and  Mr.  DeWitt, 
now  Colonel,  rose  not  only  in  wealth  but  in  popular  regard.  He 
became  Representative  of  the  town  in  1830,  State  Senator  in 
J842  and  1844,  and  a  member  of  the  House  of  National  Repre- 
sentatives in  the  Thirty-third  and  Thirty-fourth  Congresses.  In  his 
later  life  he  has  been  blind.  Colonel  DeWitt  has  just  died  at  his 
home  in  Oxford,  13th  .January",  1879,  leaving  a  widow  but  no 
children. 

Rev.  Nathan  Tyrrell  Dyer,  the  latest  of  Franklin's  sons-in- 
law,  is  a  native  of  South  Braiutree,  being  born  there  1st  January, 
1852,  and  the  son  of  Jacob  Storr  and  Ann  Maria  Thayer  (Hol- 
brook)  Dj-er.  After  passing  through  the  town  High  School  and 
Lawrence  Academj-  at  Groton,  he  entered  Dartmouth  College, 
graduating  thence  in  1873.  Next  he  passed  through  Andover 
Theological  Seminary  and  was  graduated  in  1876.  He  was  in- 
stalled over  the  First  church,  Middleboro,  31st  July,  1878. 

Mr.  Dj-er  married,  4th  June,  1878,  Miss  Harriet  Mann,  born  in 
Frankhn  and  daughter  of  William  and  Sarah  Bacon  (Metcalf) 
Mann,  still  residing  in  Frankhn. 

Hon.  Williams  Emmons  was  the  son  of  Rev.  Nathanael  and 
Martha  (Wilhams)  Emmons,  and  was  born  in  Franklin  2d  May, 
1784;  was  graduated  from  Brown  University-  1805,  in  the  class 
with  Theron  JNIetcalf,  and  was  subsequentl3^  tutor  for  three  j'ears. 
In  1809  he  opened  a  law  office  in  Augusta,  Me.,  where  he  continued 


152  HISTORY   OF   FRANKLIN. 

with  distinguished  success  uutil  1836.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
State  Legislature  in  1833  and  1834,  and  Senator  for  Kennebec 
county  in  1834  and  1835  ;  was  appointed  .Judge  of  Probate  in  1811, 
which  office  he  filled  until  1848,  when  he  removed  to  Hallo  well  to 
spend  the  remainder  of  his  life  in  privacy.  He  died  there  8th 
October,  1855. 

Judge  Emmons  married,  24th  Ma}-,  1813,  Eunice,  daughter  of 
Judge  Samuel  S.  Wilde  of  Boston.  Judge  Wilde  was  son  of 
Daniel  Wilde,  and  his  wife  was  daughter  of  Dea.  Jezaniah  Sumner, 
both  of  Taunton  and  both  noted  musicians,  the  latter  lieing  the 
authorof  the  "Ode  on  Science."  Mrs.  Emmons  died  1821,  leaving 
two  daughters,  one  of  whom  married  Eev.  Benjamin  Tappan,  .Jr., 
of  Augusta.  Judge  Emmon's  second  wife  was  Lucy,  daugliter  of 
Dr.  Benjamin  Vaughn  of  Hallowell. 

Elisha  Fairbanks,  Esq.,  was  born  in  Franklin,  0th  June,  1771, 
in  the  house,  afterwards,  of  Hon.  Willis  Fisher,  and  was  son  of 
Capt.  Asa  and  Sarah  Fairbanks.  He  graduated  at  Brown  Uni- 
versity 1791,  and  began  practice  of  law  in  Gloucester,  R.  I. 
He  soon  after  removed  to  Hopkinton,  and  thence  to  Keene,  N.  H. 
Here  he  became  derauged  and  put  an  end  to  his  own  life  about 
1820.     He  was  never  married. 

Theodore  Parker  Farr,  son  of  Parker  Russell  and  Abbj-  Eliza 
(Alexander)  Farr,  was  born  in  Franklin,  19th  December,  18.55. 
He  prepared  for  college  at  the  Dean  Academy  and  graduated,  the 
valedictorian  of  his  class,  from  Tuft's  College,  1878.  He  is  now 
teaching  school  in  Sheldonville,  Wrentham. 

Prof.  Alexander  Metcalf  Fisher,  son  of  Caleb  and  Sally 
(Cashing)  Fisher,  was  born  in  Franklin  22d  July,  1794.  He  was 
of  small  and  veiy  slender  physique,  yet  of  such  mental  quickness 
that  he  graduated  from  Yale  College  in  1813  at  19,  and  at  the 
head  of  his  class.  One  of  his  classmates  says  of  liis  junior  year, 
"  It  astonished  us  all  to  see  with  what  ease  he  traveled  through 
conic  sections,  spherical  geometry  and  trigonometry ;  how  com- 
pletely he  supplied  defective  demonstrations  in  the  text-book,  and 
occasionally  detected  fallacies  in  the  author  and  demonstrated  the 
incorrectness  of  his  conclusions.  It  seemed  almost  sublime  to  see 
one  of  an  age  but  a  single  remove  from  childhood,  of  a  figure  so 
disproportioned  to  the  magnitude  of  his  subject,  and  of  a  mould  so 
frail  and  delicate,  march  with  such  ease  and  steadiness  over  these 


ADDENDA.  153 

heights  which  stood  in  this  part  of  our  path."  —  (American  Journal 
of  Science,  V.  367.)  After  his  graduation  he  spent  a  j-ear  with  Dr. 
Emmons,  going  through  the  usual  course  of  theological  topics. 
Dr.  E.  said  of  him,  "  He  is  the  ablest  man  in  theological  argu- 
ment I  ever  met."  Another  called  him  "head  and  shoulders 
above  all  others."  He  next  went  to  Audover,  but  ill-health  com- 
pelled him  to  relinquish  books  and  retire  to  his  father's  farm.  He 
was,  however,  appointed  Tutor  in  Yale  College  in  1815,  and,  not- 
withstanding the  fears  of  his  friends,  entered  upon  his  duties  at 
the  fall  term.  His  favorite  studies  apparently  invigorated  his 
health,  and  in  two  j-ears  he  was  chosen  adjunct  Professor  of  Math- 
ematics and  Natural  Philosophj\  On  the  death  of  President 
Dwight  and  the  promotion  of  Prof.  Daj'  to  the  Presidencj-,  Fisher 
was  elected  to  his  place  in  the  chair  of  this  professorship.  His 
devotion  and  success  as  a  teacher  and  lecturer  were  striking. 
Nothing  escaped  his  attention.  Some  philosophical  papers  of  his 
at  this  time  attracted  public  notice.  Especialh'  an  article  on  ' '  Mus- 
ical Temperament,"  in  Silliman's  Joui-nal,  \o\.  1,  art.  1,  was  re- 
garded in  America  and  Europe  as  a  most  profound  and  exhaustive 
discussion  of  that  difficult  topic.  This  article  was  written  within 
two  weeks,  as  a  relief  from  severe  nervous  disturbance.  "  He  was 
a  wonderfully  rapid,  exact  and  methodical  writer,  and  marked  by 
originality  of  thought,  delicacy  of  taste,  and  determination  of  pur- 
pose." As  a  sample,  suffering  once  bitterly  under  a  toothache, 
he  wrote  out  the  pros  and  cons,  balanced  them,  and  went  to  a  den- 
tist. The  removal  of  the  tooth  being  a  less  objection  than  he  had 
computed,  he  had  a  second  offender  extracted  as  au  equipoise  in 
the  argument. 

But  the  high  hopes  of  his  career  were  suddenlj^  destroj'ed  by  his 
shipwreck  on  the  coast  of  Ireland.  Desirous  of  learning  the  modes 
of  instruction  in  Europe,  he,  with  sixty  others,  sailed  from  New 
York  in  the  packet  Albion,  1st  April,  1822.  When  near  Kinsale, 
April  22,  a  gale  struck  the  ship,  carried  her  masts,  and  dashed 
her  upon  the  rocks.  Onl}-  one  passenger  escaped.  Prof.  Fisher 
was  last  seen  in  the  cabin  examining  the  barometer. 

Prof.  Fisher  was  engaged  to  be  married  to  Catharine,  daughter 
of  Rev.  L.  Beecher,  D.  D.,  but  the  waves  forbade  forever  the  con- 
summation. 


154  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

A  white  marble  slali  stands  in  the  Franklin  Cemetery  to  mark 
the  fact  of  his  death,  with  this  inscription  :  — 

s.  M. 
ALEXANDRI  METCALP  FISHER 

COLLEOII   YALESSIS, 

Prinio  Alumni,  deinde  Tutoris, 

Postia  Matheseos  et  Philosophliv  Naturalis 

Professor ; 

Qui 

Ingenio  capaci  et  acerriino  judicio 

Prai'ditus, 

in  studia  docti-ina?  adeo  incubuit 

Ut  cum  adlius  intra  juventutis  anuos 

Ejus  versaretur  aetas, 

Prop^  summum  literarum  I'astigium 

Altigisset. 

His  insuper  laudlbus 

Caeteras,  quae  ^■irum  bonuui  commendat, 

Virtutes, 

Comitatein, 

Benevolentiam. 

Morum  Probitatem, 

Fidem  in  offlciis  lungeiidis  raaximara, 

Et  summum  Dei  reverentiam 

Addiderat. 

Et,  ci\v  amore  literarum 

Et  studio  alias  regiones  misendi  ductvis. 

In  Europam  na\igaret, 

Ad  oras  Hiberniae. 

Eheu  I  tristi  naufragio 

Periit ; 

Die  XXII  Aprilis,  anno  Sacro  M.DCCC.XXII. 

-Etatis  XXVII. 

On  the  obverse  side  :  — 

Thy  grave,  O  Fisher,  is  the  rolling  flood ; 
Thy  urn,  the  rock  eternal  reared  bj'  God ! 
Yet  near  thy  home,  raised  by  affection's  hand 
To  speak  thy  name,  this  simple  stone  shall  stand. 
How  dark  the  scene,  till  Faith  directs  on  high 
Bej'ond  these  orbs  that  charmed  thy  j'outhf  ul  eye  ; 
There  now  thy  noble  mind  expanding  glows 
In  flo(tds  of  light,  nor  pain  nor  darkness  knows; 
Youth.  Genius,  Knowledge,  Virtue,  pass  away 
From  Earth's  dim  shores,  to  Heaven's  eternal  day. 

Rev.  Ch^uiles  Richmond  Fisher  was  the  youngest  son  of 
Daniel  C.  and  Betsej-  (Wood)  Fisher,  and  was  born  in  Friiuklin 
Sept.  17,  1819.  Young  Fisher  left  home  at  13  to  learn  the  book 
trade,  as  clerk  inWilHam  Marshall's  store,  Providence.  Here, 
attending  Grace  church  with  the  family  in  which  he  resided,  he 


ADDENDA.  155 

became  personallj-  interested  in  religion,  and  -was  admitted  by 
Bisliop  Griswold  to  tliat  cliurch,  then  under  tlie  rectorship  of  Rev. 
John  A.  Clark,  now  Bishop  of  Rhode  Island.  His  new  views 
turned  his  thoughts  to  the  niiuistr_y,  and,  assisted  by  friends,  he 
commenced  stud}'  at  the  Franklin  Academy-.  In  1838  he  entered 
Trinity  College,  Hartford,  Conn.,  graduating  in  1842  in  the  same 
class  with  Rev.  Drs.  Gallandet,  Geer,  and  Olmstead. 

AVhile  studying  theology,  after  graduation,  under  Bishop  Burgess, 
then  rector  of  Christ  church,  he  also  spent  much  time  as  laj-- 
reader  in  feeble  and  vacant  parishes  in  the  vicinity.  He  was  or- 
dained as  Deacon  bj-  Bishop  Brownell  in  1845,  and  immediately 
began  to  officiate  in  St.  Marks,  New  Britain,  Conn.  Afterwards 
he  went  to  Cabotville,  Mass.,  next  to  Hebron  and  Manchester, 
Conn.  In  1847,  June  9th,  he  was  ordained  as  Priest.  In  1850, 
December  2d,  he  was  appointed  bj'  the  Bishop  as  missionar}-  to 
gather  a  church  in  the  city  of  Hartford,  Conn.  He  at  first  held 
meetings  in  a  small  and  inconvenient  hall ;  afterwards,  as  the  con- 
gi'cgation  increased,  in  an  old  chapel.  His  labors  were  so  pros- 
pered that  a  new  building  was  erected  and  dedicated  in  June,  1855, 
called  St.  Pauls  church.  Around  this  church  as  his  center,  Mr. 
Fisher  labored  while  he  lived.  He  was  the  friend  of  the  poor  and 
the  almoner  of  the  gifts  of  the  rich. 

The  newspaper  of  the  day,  the  Hartford  Globe,  said  of  him  : 
"The  death  of  '  father'  Fisher  has  spread  a  general  gloom  over 
our  comlnunit3^  It  is  seldom  that  the  demise  of  a  man,  however 
prominent  or  however  highlj'  esteemed,  is  so  universally  felt.  lie 
is  missed  everywhere,  in  and  out  of  church,  in  the  home  and  in 
the  street,  at  praj-ers  and  in  society,  by  the  rich  and — oh,  how 
sincerely  is  he  missed  and  honored  by  the  poor !" 

Mr.  Fisher  died  24th  November,  1876,  aged  57.  He  was  stout 
and  inclined  to  corpulencJ^  Too  stout  for  walkiug,  he  was  obliged 
mostly  to  ride,  indicating  the  end  which  came  to  him  at  last. 
"While  rising  from  his  bed  on  the  morning  of  his  last  day  he  said, 
"  how  well  I  have  slept,  how  well  I  feel !"  and  suddenlj'  fell  back 
on  the  pillow  dead. 

During  his  ministry  Mr.  Fisher  married  1,717  couples — -one  on 
the  afternoon  and  another  in  the  evening  before  his  death.  His 
funeral  obsequies  were  attended  hy  a  crowd  of  people,  and  the  ser- 
mon by  Bishop  Wilhams  was  printed. 


156  HISTORY   OP   FRANKLIN. 

Mr.  Fisher  married,  26th  May,  1846,  Miss  Susan  B.  Griswold 
of  Hartford,  who  with  her  three  children  —  two  sons  and  a  daugh- 
ter —  live  to  mourn  his  death. 

Hon.  George  Fisher,  son  of  Joseph  and  Susan  (Fisher)  Fisher, 
was  born  17th  March,  1788,  on  the  Maxcy  Fisher  homestead,  for- 
merly called  "  Buck's  Hill."  He  changed  his  early  farm  hfe  for 
a  mason's,  and  worked  in  Boston,  where  he  saved  his  earnings  un- 
til he  could  devote  himself  to  study.  He  fitted  for  college  with 
Rev.  William  Williams  at  West  AVrentham,  and  by  assistance 
from  his  brothers  was  enabled  to  graduate  at  Brown  University  in 
1813.  After  a  tour  to  the  South  for  health,  he  entered  the  law 
office  of  Judge  Gilbert  of  Hebron,  Conn. ,  completing  his  course  with 
Messrs.  Forman  &  Sabin,  at  Onondaga,  N.  Y.  He  afterwards 
settled  in  Oswego.  In  1828  was  elected  to  Congress,  but  was 
supplanted  in  his  seat  by  Hon.  Silas  Wright,  Jr.  He  then  left 
the  law  and  engaged  in  the  flouring  Imsiness.  Becoming  wealth}-, 
he  spent  several  j'ears  in  Europe  for  the  education  of  his  children. 
On  his  return  he  became  President  of  the  N.  W.  Insurance  Com- 
pany, residing  most  of  the  time  in  New  York  city,  where  he  died 
2Gth  March,  1861. 

Mr.  Fisher  married  EUzabeth,  daughter  of  Rev.  Dan.  Hunting- 
ton of  Hadley,  whom  he  first  met  in  a  stage  ride  from  Northampton 
to  Troy,  N.  Y.,  whither  she  was  going  as  a  teacher  in  Miss  Willard's 
school.  The}'  had  six  children.  The  four  sons  graduated  at  Cam- 
bridge, of  whom  two  follow  insurance  in  Chicago;  another  is  a 
lawyer  in  Brooklyn,  and  the  other  a  teacher  in  New  York  City. 

Rev.  George  Fisher,  son  of  Willard  and  Betsey  R.  Fisher, 
was  born  in  FrankUn  25th  November,  1839.  He  began  a  collegi- 
ate course  at  Amherst  College,  but  removed  to  Brown  University, 
and  finally  had  to  relinquish  colleges  altogether  on  account  of  fee- 
ble health.  The  love  of  a  literary  career,  however,  abode  in  him. 
Having  joined  the  Episcopol  church  in  Waterford,  N.  Y.,  in  1866, 
he  was  ordained  deacon  in  New  York  Januaiy,  1868,  and  ad- 
mitted to  the  priesthood  12th  June,  1870,  by  Bishop  W.  C.  Doane, 
of  Albany.  In  1871,  March  19,  he  became  rector  of  the  church 
of  St.  John  the  Evangelist,  at  Stockport,  Columbia  county,  N.  Y., 
where  he  still  officiates. 

Mr.  Fisher  married,  25th  December,  1865,  Miss  Ellen  E.  H. 
Wright  of  Providence,  R.  I. 


ADDENDA.  157 

Hon.  Jabez  Fisher  was  born  on  "Buck's  Hill,"  now  King 
street,  where  Alfred  Metcalf  lives,  19th  November,  1717,  and 
was  the  youngest  child  of  Ebenezer,  Sr.,  and  Abigail  (Ellis) 
Fisher.  Although  without  a  liberal  education,  his  strong  common 
sense,  clear  intuition  and  inflexible  iutegritj^  gained  and  kept  the 
confidence  of  all  men  through  the  trj'ing  scenes  of  his  long  hfe, 
as  the  offices  of  trust  to  which  he  was  elected  clearl}'  show. 

lie  was  a  representative  to  the  General  Court  of  the  Provincial 
government  for  manj-  j-ears,  a  member  of  the  house  of  delegates 
at  Salem,  in  1775,  where  he  was  choseu  one  of  the  council  of 
twent3'-eight  which  acted  as  the  executive  during  the  opening  Rev- 
olution, and  of  which  were  John  and  Samuel  Adams,  Robert 
Treat  Paine,  and  John  Hancock.  He  was  considered  tht  special 
watchman  of  the  country  part  of  SufToUs:  county,  then  including 
Franklin,  and  brought  its  forces  into  action.  He  was  delegate  to 
the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1788.  He  declined  to  be  on  the 
famous  Committee  of  .Safety,  on  account  of  his  distance  from 
Boston,  but  when  the  Provincial  Congress  was  summoned  to 
Watertown  in  midwinter,  he  walked  all  the  way  from  Franklin  on 
his  snow-shoes  through  the  woods.  He  was  also  on  the  Gover- 
nor's Council  from  1766  to  1772  and  from  1776  to  1779,  and  iu 
the  Senate  from  1780  to  1784,  and  again  a  Representative  in  1786, 
1798  and  1799.  Being  now  82  j-ears  old  he  withdi'ew  from  pubHc 
affairs.  But  he  continued  to  act  as  justice  of  the  peace,  to  which 
he  was  first  commissioned  8th  November,  1775,  until  1800;  and 
officiated  as  deacon  of  the  church  from  February,  1755,  until  he 
was  unable  to  attend.  He  died  15th  October,  1806,  in  his  89th 
year.  A  funeral  sermon  by  Dr.  Emmons  (Works,  vol.  v.,  496) 
ably  sets  forth  his  character  and  worth. 

Deacon  Fisher  married,  5th  March,  1740,  Mary,  daughter  of 
.John  Adams,  and  had  nine  children. 

Lewis  WnrriNG  Fisher,  Esq. ,  was  born  in  Franklin  29th  De- 
cember, 1792,  and  was  the  son  of  Hon.  Lewis  and  Abigail  Fisher. 
He  graduated  at  Brown  University,  1816,  and  studied  law  with 
Hon.  J.  J.  Fiske,  of  Wrentham.  He  afterwards  opened  an  office 
in  Wrentham,  where  he  lived  until  his  death  in  1827,  April  20. 

Esquire  Fisher  married  Nancj',  daughter  of  Luther  and  Betsey 
Fisher,  4th  January,  1820.  She  is  still  hving  in  Wrentham.  They 
had  foui-  children,  Lewis  Emmons  and  Hem-y  Jones,  now  deceased  ; 


158  HISTORY   OF   FRANKLIN. 

Elizabeth  E.  and  George  Park,  who  graduated  B.  U.  1847.  and  is 
now  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  in  Yale  College,  and  widelj- 
known  as  author  of  "  History  of  the  Reformation,"  "  Beginnings 
of  Christianit}',"  and  other  works. 

Hon.  Milton  Metcalf  Fisher  was  the  eldest  son  of  Willis  and 
Caroline  (Fairbanks)  Fisher,  and  great  grandson  of  Hon.  Jabez 
Fisher.  He  was  born  in  the  south  part  of  Franklin  30th  Jan- 
uary, 1811.  With  agood  common  school  education  he  began  at  16 
teaching  district  schools  in  Wrentham,  Franklin,  Medway,  West- 
boro.  Canton  and  Randolph.  He  prepared  for  college  partlj'  at 
Day's  Academy,  Wrentham,  under  Isaac  Perkins,  and  at  the  Med- 
waj-  Classical  Institute,  A.  R.  Baker,  Princip.al ;  entered  Amherst 
College  in  1832,  but  too  close  devotion  to  stud}',  in  a  class  con- 
taining Governor  Bullock,  Judge  Kellogg  of  Vermont,  and  Hon.  E. 
H.  Kellogg  of  Pittsfleld,  compelled  him  to  leave  college  and  betake 
himself  to  journeying  for  recuperation,  in  which  he  was  ultimatelj- 
successful  in  a  complete  restoration.  He  then  entered  business  in 
Westboro,  where  he  filled  several  offices,  but  removed  to  Medway 
village  in  18-40,  and  there  still  resides.  In  Medway  Mr.  Fisher 
has  held  nearlj'  every  municipal  office  —  he  has  been  Justice  of 
the  Peace  and  Notary  Public  for  Norfolk  couutj%  State  Senator  in 
1859  and  1860,  Couuty  Commissioner  from  1863  to  1872,  and  dea- 
con of  the  village  church  since  1840.  He  has  been  a  trader,  a 
straw-goods  manufacturer,  and  is  now  insurance  agent  for  several 
companies.  He  received  the  degree  of  A.  M.  in  1865  from  Am- 
herst College,  and  while  the  old  chapel  stands  his  name  will  be 
read  on  the  inside  clock-face  that  marks  the  tardy  ones  at  prayers. 

Mr.  Fisher  married,  August  22,  1836,  Eleanor  B.,  eldest  daugh- 
ter of  Hon.  Luther  Metcalf  of  Medway,  b}'  whom  he  has  had  nine 
children,  four  of  whom  are  now  living.  One  son  is  associated  with 
him  in  business,  the  other  is  a  prominent  phj'sician  in  Boston.  Of 
the  two  daughters  one  is  married  in  Amherst,  the  other  is  a 
teacher. 

Prof.  Austin  Bakclay  Fletcher  is  a  native  of  Mendou,  where 
he  was  born  13th  March,  1852,  but  removed  to  Franklin  in  1860. 
After  leaving  the  pubhc  schools  in  town,  he  spent  three  years  in 
Dean  Academy.  The  j-ear  1869  was  spent  in  Bryant  &  Stratton's 
Commercial  School,  Boston.  The  next  year  he  was  at  Wilbraham 
Academy.     He  then  entered  Tuft's  College  in  1872,  graduating  in 


K.y^,y/c  ^5^€^:i-s 


ADDENDA.  159  ' 

$  ra.  ^^»-ti<?t      . 

1876.     The  two  years  following  were  passed  in  Boston  Uuiversity,C2<-^ iS/^  i^/ri^^y^ 
in  the  schools  of  law  and  of  oratory.     Since  the  spring  of  the  cur-  \       **^f  /f  •ypl 
rent  year  he  has  been  instructing  in  orator}-,  both  in  the   theologi-   n/P ^c.' ' 


XiX^k^tO* 


cal  department  of  the  Boston  Universitj-  and  also  at  Brown  Uni- /  ~,    ,  /j  /     /  i  7f    ' 
versity,  Providence.     His  intended  profession  is  the  law.  ^    v'       l^.^Ca] 

Mr.  Fletcher  is  the  son  of  Asa  A.   and  Harriett  E.  (Dur<pe)     y^,^,^,^  /fi^o  \ 

Fletcher.  Clct^.djboL  A^\ 

James  Robert  Gilmore  ("Edmund  Kirke")  was  born  in  the  ,^        Iv-^^-?^'^.  I 
south  part  of  Franklin,  called  •'  under  the  hill,"  and  was  the  son  of        ,  «>^     -    ^ 
Turner  Gilmore,  and  grandson  of  William.     In  1845  he  entered!,''^    ' '\.  "''"'[ 
the  employ  of  Blanchard,  Converse  &  Co. ,  of  Boston,  and  became  i 

their  salesman  in  New  York  State  for  man}'  years.  At  the  same 
time  he  supported  his  mother  in  Boston,  who  had  become  insane. 
In  1856  he  began  business  in  New  York  city.  This  compelled 
him  to  often  visit  the  South,  and  especially'  North  Carolina,  where 
he  became  so  conversant  with  the  people.  He  at  this  time  origi- 
nated a  village  in  New  Jersej',  and  built  a  house  there  in  which  he 
lived.     But  further  particulars  of  his  life  are  now  inaccessible. 

Mr.  Gilmore's  special  fame  rests  upon  his  authorship.  Being  a 
rapid  penman  and  a  \ivacious  composer,  his  travels  giving  him  a 
wide  acquaintance  with  men  and  abundant  incidents,  he  began  the 
Continental  Magazine  in  1865,  editing  and  publishing  it  himself. 
In  this  magazine  his  book  ' '  Among  the  Pines  "  first  appeared  as  a 
serial,  with  the  nom  de 'plume  of  "  Edmund  Kirke."  It  attracted 
wide  interest.  He  also  wrote  "My  Southern  Friends"  and 
"  Down  in  Tennessee,"  in  which  he  describes  a  visit  to  Jefferson 
Da\-is  in  Richmond.  He  was  also  a  partj'  in  the  famous  Greelej' 
Conference  with  the  rebels  to  eflfect  a  peace.  His  magazine  arti- 
cles have  been  numerous,  and  their  fund  of  humor  exhaustless.  Of 
his  family  and  present  residence  the  writer  knoweth  not. 

Elisha  Harding,  M.  D.,  the  son  of  Captain  Asa  and  Comfort 
Harding,  was  born  in  Franklin  29th  January,  1796.  After  fitting 
for  college  he  graduated  M.  D.  at  Brown  University,  1819.  Im- 
mediately after  his  graduation  he  ■\'isited  and  finallj'  settled  in 
Maine.  Dr.  Harding  married,  7th  September,  1819,  Amelia,  daugh- 
ter of  Moses  Hawes,  and  removed  to  Union,  Me.,  where  he  be- 
came prominent  as  physician,  and  was  in  various  civic  offices  until 
1842,   when  he  removed  to  Thomaston,  where  he  died  in  1850, 


160  HISTORY   OF   FRANKLIN. 

May  6th.  He  left  one  son,  Nathaniel  Miller  Harding,  of  Rock- 
land, Me.,  still  resident  in  that  city. 

Rev.  Walter  Harius,  D.  D.,  a  son-in-law  of  tliis  town,  was 
born  in  Lebanon,  Conn.,  8th  June,  17G1,  and  was  son  of  Nathan- 
iel and  Grace  Harris.  He  graduated  at  Dartmouth  College,  1787, 
and  studied  theologj'  with  Rev.  Dr.  Emmons,  and  was  settled  in 
Dumbarton,  N.  H.,  2Gth  August,  1789,  where  he  died  after  forty 
years'  successful  service,  25th  December,  1843.  He  married 
Jemima,  daughter  of  Nathaniel  Fisher  of  Franklin,  and  sister  of 
Hon.  Lewis  Fisher,  by  whom  he  had  seven  children. 

Dr.  Harris  was  a  remarkable  man.  Left  an  orphan  at  16,  he 
joined  the  Revolutionary  armj-  as  flfer  and  served  his  three  3-ears. 
He  next  bought  wild  land  near  Dartmouth  College  and  made  himself 
a  farm.  Being  converted  by  a  sermon  in  town,  he  resolutely  turned 
to  the  ministry,  and  by  dint  of  evening  study  graduated  with 
honors.  Reading  a  sermon  of  Dr.  Emmons',  he  determined  to 
study  theologj'  with  that  man.  He  found  him  in  Franklin,  learned 
his  theologj',  found  a  wife  also  in  the  congregation,  and  became 
one  of  the  mighty  men  of  the  gospel  in  New  Hampshire. 

Rev.  Thomas  Haven  was  the  oldest  living  child  of  Rev.  Elias 
Haven,  the  first  minister  of  Franklin.  He  was  born  28th  August, 
1744,  and  was  graduated  at  Cambridge,  1765.  He  was  installed 
7th  November,  1770,  the  first  pastor  of  the  Third,  or  South,  church 
in  Reading.  But  like  his  father  he  fell  an  early  victim  to  con- 
sumption, dying  in  office,  7th  May,  1782,  in  the  39th  year  of 
his  age.  His  grave-stone  says  his  death  was  "a  most  sorrow- 
ful event  to  the  people  of  his  charge,"  and  adds  —  "  a  genius  un- 
fettered by  bigotrj%  improved  by  study,  ennobled  hy  religion  and 
by  an  evangelical  temper,  and  enlarged  by  the  most  diffusive 
benevolence,  has  taken  its  fhght  to  its  native  country." 

Mr.  Haven  married  Anna  Bigelow,  who  died  10th  June,  1776, 
aged  21. 

Rev.  Alfred  Havtes,  a  native  of  Holliston,  married  Clarissa 
Prentiss,  daughter  of  Phineas  and  Abigail  Partridge,  of  Franklin, 
and  became  a  member  of  its  list  of  sons.  He  fitted  for  college  at 
the  Franklin  Academy  and  graduated  at  Brown  University,  1841, 
and  at  Andover.  He  went  "West  as  a  home  missionar3',  and  was  soon 
settled  in  Marion,  Ind.,  where  he  died  in  August,  1854.  His  wife 
soon  followed  him.     Rev.  H.  W.  Beecher,  then  in  the  same  State, 


ADDENDA.  161 

said  of  him:  "If  we  bad  a  hundred  men  like  Hawes,  Indiana 
would  soon  blossom  as  the  rose."  He  left  four  children,  of  whom 
is  George  W.  Hawes,  Professor  of  Miueralogj-  in  the  Yale  Scientific 
School. 

Peter  Hawes,  Esq.,  son  of  Joseph  and  Hannah  (Fisher) 
Hawes,  was  born  in  Franklin  6th  June,  1766.  He  graduated  at 
Brown  University  1790,  and  afterwards  became  an  eminent  lawyer 
in  New  York  city.  He  was  a  devoted  Christian  and  an  elder  in 
the  brick  church,  Rev.  Dr.  Spring's. 

Esquire  Hawes  died  in  early  life,  leaA-iug  two  daughters,  Susan 
and  Matilda,  both  unmanied,  and  a  son  of  whom  we  know  not 
even  his  name. 

Rev.  Isaac  Erwin  Heaton  was  born  in  Franklin  6th  October, 
1808,  and  was  the  oldest  son  of  Nathan  and  Sarah  (Boon)  Heaton. 
He  is  descended  from  Nathaniel  and  Marj*  Heaton,  original  settlers 
in  TVrentham.  His  great  gi'andfather  Isaac  took  a  farm  within 
the  southern  limits  of  Franklin  which  his  grandfather  Isaac  and 
his  father  Nathan  occupied.  The  first  printing  press  in  this  re- 
gion was  set  up  by  his  ancestral  family,  which  issued  manj"  of  the 
first  editions  of  Dr.  Emmons'  sermons  and  other  pamphlets.  No 
relic  of  that  old  press  is  now  known  to  exist. 

Mr.  Heaton  fitted  for  college  at  Daj-'s  Academy  and  graduated 
B.  U.  1832  ;  studied  theologj'  with  Rev.  Dr.  Ide,  and  was  ordained 
as  evangelist  b}*  the  Mendon  Association  at  North  Wrentham  25th 
April,  1857.  He  went  West  as  a  home  missionary  to  Wisconsin, 
where  he  was  for  a  time  the  only  Congi-egational  minister  in  the 
State.  He  preached  among  the  lead  miners.  He  pioneered  sev- 
eral churches  into  self-support.  In  1856  he  went  to  Fremont, 
Neb.,  where  he  still  is.  The  church  of  seven  members  which 
he  organized  there  now  numbers  fort^'-flve  with  a  good  house  of 
worship  and  a  parsonage  free  of  debt. 

Mr.  Heaton  married  Miranda  N.,  daughter  of  Samuel  Metcalf 
of  FrankUn,  and  has  two  daughters  married. 

Rev.  Asa  Hixon,  who  married  Charlotte  Baker,  daughter  of  Capt. 
Da\'id  Baker,  was  born  in  Medwaj-  6th  March,  1800,  and  was  son 
of  Asa  and  Polly  (Turner)  Hixon.  He  graduated  at  Brown  Uni- 
versity 1825,  and  at  Auburn  Theological  Seminary  ;  was  ordained 
at  Oakham  7th  October,  1829,  but  was  compelled  to  resign  in  1832. 
After  a  long  sickness  he  was  able  to  remove  to  Franklin  in  1845, 
u 


162  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

where  he  lived  in  comparative  comfort  for  twelve  j-ears.  In  1857 
he  returned  to  his  first  home  in  Medway,  where  he  died  16th  No- 
vember, 1862,  widely  lamented  as  a  clear  thinker  and  conscien- 
tious Christian.     He  had  but  one  child,  David  B.  Hison. 

Rev.  William  Hooper,  a  native  of  Berwick,  Me.,  born  1794, 
a  missionary  to  the  Choctaw  Indians  from  1820  to  1828,  first  at 
Maj'hew,  and  then  at  Elliott  stations,  where  he  died  8th  Septem- 
ber, 1828.  He  became  connected  with  Franklin  by  his  second 
wife,  Eliza  Fairbanks,  whom  he  married  28th  March,  1828.  Miss 
Fairbanks  was  daughter  of  Levi  Fairbanks,  bom  25th  Februaiy, 
1798.  Her  father  dying  a  few  months  after  her  birth  she  was 
taken  into  the  family  of  Abijah  Allen.  After  a  common  educa- 
tion in  the  King  street  school  she  went  to  Bradford  Academy. 
Catching  the  missionary  spirit  at  this  seminary,  she  offered  her- 
self to  the  American  Board  as  a  teacher,  in  which  vocation  she 
had  had  some  experience  in  Rhode  Island.  She  started  in  Sep- 
tember, 1827,  with  ten  others,  for  the  Choctaw  Mission  in  Missis- 
sippi, where  she  first  met  and  afterwards  married  Mr.  Hooper 
the  March  following.  On  the  removal  of  the  Choctaws  beyond 
the  Mississippi,  in  1831,  Mrs.  Hooper  was  released  and  returned 
to  Franklin.  She  became  afterwards  the  wife  of  Asa  Partridge 
until  his  death,  surviving  him  for  some  years.  There  were  no 
children  to  either  marriage. 

Rev.  Sanford  Jabez  Horton,  D.  D.,  was  born  in  Franklin  24th 
September,  1817.  His  father,  Jabez  Horton,  was  son  of  Comfort 
Horton  of  Echoboth.  His  mother,  Martha  INIiller,  was  daughter 
of  Phihp  Miller  also  of  Rehoboth,  and  sister  of  Dr.  Nathaniel 
Miller  of  Franklin. 

He  prepared  for  college  partly  in  Franklin  Academy,  and  com- 
pleted ill  the  AVorcester  High  School,  graduated  at  Trinity  College, 
Hartford,  Conn.,  in  1843,  and  studied  theology  at  Alexandria, 
Va.  He  was  ordained  as  deacon  in  the  Protestant  Episcojjal 
church  at  Providence,  R.  I.,  August,  1845,  and  as  priest  in  the 
same  place  in  1846.  He  became  rector  of  the  St.  Andrews  church, 
Providence,  in  the  same  year.  From  1848  to  1852  was  rector  of 
Grace  church.  New  Bedford,  and  for  the  ten  years  succeeding  was 
rector  of  St.  Paul's  church  in  Windham,  Conn.  While  in  this 
position  he  was  elected  principal  of  the  Episcopal  Academy  in 
Cheshire,  New  Haven  county.  Conn.,  which  office  he  has  held 


tfM^. 


ADDENDA.  163 

since  1862.     This  is  an  old  institution,  founded  in  1794,  and  has  a 
wide  patronage  from  the  denomination  who  have  it  in  charge. 

Dr.  Hortou  received  the  degree  of  D.  D.  from  Trinit}-  College 
in  1869.  He  married,  14th  September,  1846,  Annie  E.  Allen, 
daughter  of  Paschal  Allen  of  Warren,  R.  I.  She  died  13th  Sep- 
tember, 1850,  leading  two  children,  Paschal  and  Nelson  Leprelitte. 
Pie  married  as  second  wife,  20th  April,  1852,  Sarah  S.  Wickham, 
daughter  of  James  S.  Wickham,  of  Hartford,  Conn.,  by  whom  he 
Lad  two  children  —  William  Wickham,  lately  M.  D.  at  New  York 
Unlversitj'  Medical  College,  and  ISIary  P^lizabeth,  deceased.  The 
son  inherits  the  Miller  talent  for  surgerj'. 

Rev.  Samtjel  Hunt  was  a  son-in-law  of  Franklin,  but  for  a  full 
account  see  Ecclesiastical  Historj',  pastors  of  the  Congregational 
church. 

Rev.  Jacob  Ide,  D.  D.,  who  married  Maiy,  daughter  of  Rev. 
Dr.  Emmons,  was  born  in  Attleboro  in  1786,  and  was  the  son  of 
Jacob  and  descendant  of  Nicholas  Ide  of  Rehoboth,  1645.  He 
was  valedictorian  of  the  class  of  1809,  Brown  Uni#rsity,  and 
also  at  Andover,  1812.  Was  ordained  at  West  Medway  2d  No- 
vember, 1814,  where  he  was  active  pastor  for  over  fift^-  years,  and 
still  lives  in  his  ninetj'-third  j^ear.  He  married,  13th  April,  1815, 
Mar}-,  daughter  of  Rev.  Dr.  Emmons,  and  his  wife  is  still  with 
him  in  unusual  •vigor  for  her  j'ears.  Of  his  five  children  only  two 
survive  —  Rev.  Jacob,  Jr.,  graduated  at  Amherst  College  1848, 
and  now  for  twent}--two  years  pastor  in  Mansfield,  and  Rev.  Alexis 
W.,  late  pastor  in  Stafford  Springs,  Conn. 

His  daughter  Marj-  married  Rev.  Charles  T.  Torrey,  and  their 
daughter  Marj-  married  Rev.  Alljert  Briant,  now  of  West  Somer- 
ville. 

Rev.  TnoJiAS  Kidder  was  the  son  of  Aaron  and  Elizabeth 
(Emerson)  Kidder,  and  was  born  in  New  Ipswich,  N.  H.,  loth 
April,  1801.  While  young  his  parents  removed  to  Waterford, 
Vt.,  where  his  talents  and  piety  enlisted  aid  to  his  entering  upon 
a  liberal  education.  He  studied  the  classics  at  Bangor,  Me., 
spent  a  3-ear  in  Princeton,  and  completed  the  course  at  Andover, 
graduating  in  1834.  He  staid  two  j-ears  longer  as  resident  gradu- 
ate. He  was  settled  as  pastor  at  AVindsor,  Yt.,  10th  January, 
1838,  dismissed  in  April,  1842,  and  became  chaplain  of  the  State's 
prison  for  sis  years.     He  afterwards  preached  a  j'ear  at  a  time  in 


164  HISTORY   OP   FRANKLIN. 

different  towns  about  St.  Jobnsbmy.  In  1863  he  enlisted  as  pri- 
vate in  the  Ninth  Regiment  at  Newbern,  N.  C,  but  was  detailed 
as  nurse  in  the  Eighteenth  Corps  in  Virginia.  He  was  seized  by 
sickness  in  1864  and  died  November  29th  of  that  j'ear,  at  Base 
Hospital,  Point  of  Rocks,  Va. 

Mr.  Kidder  married,  21st  October,  1837,  Nancj-,  daughter  of 
Caleb  Fisher  of  Franklin,  and  sister  of  Prof.  A.  M.  Fisher  of 
Yale  College.  Thej'  had  two  children — -Catharine  Beecher  and 
Helen  Everett,  wife  of  David  A.  Alden  of  Maiden.  The  mother 
still  lives  in  St.  Johnsbur}',  Vt. 

Rev.  Samuel  Kingsbury  was  the  son  of  James  and  Mary  (Up- 
ton) Kingsbury,  and  a  relative  of  Rev.  Cjtus  Kingsbury,  D.  D., 
missionary  to  the  Clioctaws,  through  his  grandfather,  Daniel. 
He  was  born  in  Franklin,  18th  May,  1798,  and  lived  in  a  small 
old  house  near  Cress  brook  place,  now  in  Norfolk.  A  feeble  and 
odd  child,  he  j-et  had  a  strong  thirst  for  studj',  and,  by  the  aid 
and  encoiiragement  of  Dr.  Emmons  and  others,  he  succeeded  in 
gi-aduating  from  Brown  University'  in  1822.  He  preached  acccpt- 
ablj-  for  a  time  inTamworth,  N.  H.,  and  was  settled  14th  January, 
1829,  over  a  new  church  in  Andover,  N.  H.  After  a  j'ear,  he  was 
installed  in  Warwick,  N.  H.,  6th  November,  1833,  and  dismissed 
30th  June,  1835.     His  later  history- is  not  known. 

Mr.  Kingsbury  married,  16th  December,  1829,  Mary,  daughter  of 
Josiah  Badcock  of  Andover,  N.  H.,  and  had  seven  children.  His 
oldest  li^'ing  son,  Rev.  "William  Henrj',  we  find  settled  in  Corinth, 
Vt.,  5th  January,  1859,  and  was  in  Charlton,  N.  Y.,  in   1871. 

Dr.  Samuel  Allen  Kingsbutst  was  the  youngest  son  of  Stephen 
and  Abigail  (Allen)  Kingsbury,  and  was  born  in  Franklin  9th 
November,  1793.  He  was  graduated  at  Brown  Universitj-,  1816, 
and  studied  medicine.  But  he  had  hardly  opened  an  office  for  his 
profession  in  Foxboro,  when  he  died  in  that  town,   8th  October, 

1821,  aged  27  j'ears  11  months.  He  was  regarded  as  a  very  prom- 
ising candidate  in  his  vocation. 

Rev.  Hartford  Partridge  Leonaed,  son  of  Captain  Hartford 
and  Elizabeth   (Shaw)   Leonard,  was  born  in  Foxboro  3d  May, 

1822,  but  removed  with  his  parents  to  Franklin  1st  April,  1829, 
and  has  since  been  claimed  as  a  son  of  the  latter  town.  He  fitted 
for  college  in  the  old  Franklin  Acadeni}-,  and  entered  Amherst 
College  in  1840,  but  a  sudden  sickness   in  his  sophomore   year 


ADDENDA.  165 

comijelled  him  to  abandon  study  and  betake  himself  to  some  open 
air  vocation.  For  some  j-ears  he  conducted  business  in  Boston, 
where  he  did  good  service  also  in  the  establishing  of  the  Edwards 
Congregational  church.  The  great  question  of  freedom  in  Kansas, 
then  so  fierceh*  threatened,  aroused  his  sympathy,  and  he  joined 
the  first  companj'  of  immigrants  with  Governor  Robinson.  He 
went  through  the  John  Brown  war  as  a  private,  earrj-ing  a  Sharp's 
ritie  presented  to  liberty'  b}-  a  daughter  of  Rev.  Dr.  Button  of  New 
Haven,  Conn.  The  spiritual  needs  of  the  settlers  turned  his 
thoughts  again  to  the  missionary  work,  and  his  wife  dying  he  re- 
turned East  to  fit  himself  for  the  ministr}-.  He  spent  some  two 
^•ears  in  studj'ing  theologj'  with  Rev.  M.  Blake  in  Taunton,  and 
was  ordained  in  Edgartown,  M.  Y.,  23d  June,  18.33.  Having  re- 
married he  returned  to  Kansas,  but  the  health  of  his  wife  com- 
pelled him  to  leave  the  West  entirely.  Since  his  return  he  has 
preached  in  Bridgewater  and  Westport,  and  is  now  stated  supply 
of  the  church  in  East  Taunton. 

Mr.  Leonard  married,  first,  Emily  Whitaker  of  Franklin,  who 
died  in  Kansas  soon  after ;  second.  Miss  Lucj-  A.  Chapman  of 
Tewksbnry.  He  has  four  children,  the  oldest  of  whom,  Willie 
H.,  is  preparing  for  admission  to  Amherst  College  the  coming  j'ear. 

Dr.  Ferdix.\nd  Letiibridge  was  a  native  of  Franklin,  born  26th 
May,  1778,  and  eldest  child  of  Samuel  and  Sarah  Lethbridge.  He 
studied  medicine  with  Dr.  Nathaniel  Miller,  and  settled  in  South 
Brimtield,  now  Wales,  where  he  died,  2oth  March,  1811,  aged  33 
years.     He  was  buried  in  Franklin. 

Hon.  Horace  Mann,  L.  L.  D.,*  was  the  son  of  Thomas  and 
Marj-  (StanlcA')  Mann,  and  was  born  in  Franklin  4th  Maj*,  1796. 
His  father  was  a  small  farmer,  and  lived  on  what  was  called  ' '  The 
Plain."  He  died  when  Horace  was  but  13,  leaving  him  little 
more  than  a  virtuous  example  and  a  thirst  for  knowledge,  a  brother 
Stanley,  and  a  sister,  L3dia  B.,  of  sjTnpathetic  tastes,  who  still 
lives  in  Pro\'idence,  R.  I.,  the  field  of  her  life  labors. 

Horace  inherited  a  tendenc3'  to  consumption,  with  which  he  had 
to  battle  during  his  life,  and  which  probably  gave  him  his  nervous 
sensitiveness.     His  j-outh  was  spent  as  was  that  of  others  at  that 

•  This  sketch  is  mainly  condensed  from  "  The  American  Portrait  Gallery," 
vol.  iii,  179. 


166  HISTiiliY   OF   FRANKLIN. 

time  at  farm  work  in  its  season,  and  in  the  district  school  in  win- 
ter. The  bitterness  with  which  he  speaks  of  those  j'ears,  espec- 
ifilly  of  his  religions  snrronndings,  he  proliably  did  not  taste  until 
after  years  had  given  him  a  condition  more  agreeable  to  his  aspi- 
rations. His  picture  of  Dr.  Emmons  especially'  must  have  been 
painted  in  after  years,  and  from  a  different  position.  He  remained 
at  home  with  his  mother  until  20.  During  this  time  an  itinerant 
schoolmaster,  Samuel  (  ?)  Barrett,  opened  a  school  in  town.  Barrett 
was  an  eccentric  genius,  full  to  overflowing  with  the  classics, 
which  he  could  quote  by  the  page,  but  ignorant  ntterl3'  of  the 
mathematics.  He  would  keep  school  for  six  months  upon  a  most 
abstemious  diet,  and  then  travel  in  a  drunken  frenzy  for  the  rest 
of  the  year.*  A  singular  gTammar  published  by  him  in  1813  is  his 
only  surviving  monument.  Young  INIann  attended  this  school, 
and  in  it  first  saw  a  Latin  grammar.  With  the  reluctant  consent 
of  his  guardian,  he  began  the  study  of  Latin  and  Greek,  and  by 
assiduous  industry  at  the  end  of  sis  months  entered  as  sophomore 
in  Brown  University  September,  1816.  But  such  a  devotion  con- 
tinued in  college  overthrew  his  health  and  compelled  him  to  leave 
his  class  for  a  time.  He  was  obliged,  also,  to  gain  the  means  of 
continuing  in  college  by  school-keeping  in  the  winter.  Yet,  with 
all  these  drawbacks,  he  graduated  in  1819.as  the  v^aledictoriau  of 
his  class  of  twenty.  After  graduation  he  entered  the  law  office  of 
Hon.  J.  J.  Fiske  of  Wrentham,  but  was  soon  after  appointed  tutor 
in  his  Alma  Mater.  He  held  this  office  two  j-ears,  and  then  en- 
tered the  Law  School  in  Litchfield,  Conn.  After  a  year  he  com- 
pleted his  legal  course  with  Hon.  James  Richardson  of  Dedham, 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  December,  1823. 

Mann's  early  devotion  to  study  was  continued  in  his  legal  prac- 
tice, so  that  it  is  said  during  his  fourteen  years  of  office  life,  or 
until  he  left  his  profession  in  1837,  he  gained  at  least  four-fifths  of 
all  cases  committed  to  him.  But  this  success  was  doubtless  be- 
cause he  had  one  inflexible  rule  —  never  to  undertake  a  case  which 
he  did  not  believe  to  be  right.     In  1827  Mr.  Mann  was  chosen  as 


*  So  says  "  The  American  Portrait  Gallery."  But  John  Barrett  wrote  the 
English  grammar,  of  which  we  have  a  copy.  He  was  of  Hopkinton,  the  grand- 
son of  the  first  minister,  Rer.  Samuel,  born  1759,  and  died  4th  April,  1821.  He 
■was  eccentric  and  wayward,  but  hardly  to  the  degree  described  above. 


-^'  ^'' 


,:::^=^cZ<r-L-^Gt,-<,A^        .^^^^^-^L-^-t-^,,*^*- 


ADDENDA.  167 

Repre -■mutative  of  Deo.'-.-un  to  tlie  Legislature  by  the  Whig  party. 
lie  souii  becai'  •  :i  ecu,  picuous  ruemb'  ■  of  that  bodj-,  and  was  an- 
nually returned  by  increasing  niajoriti-.'S  of  his  towusni'M  while  he 
resided  in  Dedham.  His  first  speech  was  in  opposition  to  close 
religious  corporations,  and  bis  second  in  favor  of  railroads,  sup- 
posed to  be  the  first  speech  printed  in  any  legislature  on  that  now 
dominant  interest.  He  earnestlj-  advocated  the  suppression  of  in- 
temperance and  lotteries,  and  the  elevation  of  the  public  schools. 
He  introduced,  sustained  and  carried  through  the  bill  for  establish- 
ing a  State  Lunatic  Hospital,  and  was  chainnan  of  its  first  board 
of  trustees.  He  was  one  of  a  committee  for  codifj'ing  the  laws  of 
the  State. 

lu  1833  Mv.  Mann  removed  to  Boston  and  formed  a  law  part- 
nership with  Hon.  Edward  G.  Loring.  At  the  next  election  he 
was  chosen  State  Senator  for  Sufl'olk  county,  which  office  he 
filled  for  fom-  successive  years.  He  was  president  of  that  body 
in  1836  and  1837.  He  was  also  chosen  with  his  townsman  Judge 
Theron  Metcalf,  to  edit  the  Ee\'ised  Statutes,  for  which  he  wrote 
the  marginal  notes  and  references  and  judicial  decisions. 

But  Mr.  Mann's  great  work  was  in  the  department  of  the  public 
schools.  These  had  held  a  prominent  place  in  his  studies  and 
speeches,  and  when  the  Board  of  Education  was  created  he  was 
elected,  29th  June,  1837,  its  first  secretary,  an  office  he  held 
for  eleven  years.  Of  his  work  in  this  field  and  its  results  there  is 
no  need  to  speak.  The  children  of  our  common  schools  have  built 
a  monument  to  his  labors  in  bronze,  in  front  of  the  Capitol  of  the 
Commonwealth.  Of  these  labors  he  says  in  his  "  Supplementary 
Eeport"  of  1848,  "  from  the  time  when  I  accepted  the  secretary- 
ship in  June,  1837,  until  May,  1848,  when  I  tendered  my  resigna- 
tion, I  labored  in  this  cause  on  an  average  of  not  less  than  fifteen 
hours  a  daj-.  From  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  this  period  I 
never  took  a  single  day  for  relaxation,  and  months  and  months 
together  passed  without  my  withdrawing  a  single  evening  from 
working  hours  to  call  upon  a  friend." 

In  1848  he  was  elected  to  Congress  to  fill  the  place  of  John 
Quincy  Adams,  and  was  twice  re-elected  to  the  House.  In  1852 
he  was  nominated  for  the  Governorship  of  the  State  by  the  Free 
Soil  party,  and  on  the  same  day  was  chosen  President  of  Antioch 
College  at  Yellow  Springs,  Ohio.     He  failed  of  election  as  Gover- 


168  HISTORY   OF   FRANKLIN. 

nor,  but  accepted  the  Presidency  and  continued  in  it  until  his  death, 
2nd  August,  1859,  aged  63  jears. 

Mr.  Mann,  in  1830,  married  Charlotte  Messer,  youngest  daugh- 
ter of  President  Messer  of  Brown  University.  She  lived  but  a  short 
time,  djdng  1st  August,  1832.  It  was  not  until  ten  j-ears,  in  1843, 
that  he  married  again  —  Miss  Marj'  Peabodj-  of  Boston.  lu  1849 
he  received  the  degree  of  LL.  D.  from  Harvard  Universit}-.  Two 
sons  now  represent  the  famil}-,  both  graduates  and  teachers  —  one 
at  Cambridge,  the  other  in  the  West. 

Edward  McFakland,  Esq.,  was  born  in  Franklin  7th  August, 
1856,  son  of  Hugh  and  Celia  (Doherty)  McFarlaud.  He  pre- 
pared for  college  at  Dean  Academy,  and  graduated  at  Holy  Cross 
College,  Worcester,  1873.  He  studied  law  with  Esquire  Colburn, 
of  Dedham,  two  years,  and  one  year  at  Boston  University,  grad- 
uating in  1876,  being  one  of  the  live  out  of  twenty-nine  candi- 
dates admitted  by  a  new  and  critical  examiuation  to  the  bar.  He 
is  now  residing  in  Franklin. 

Albert  Metcalf,  sou  of  Dea.  Jonathan  and  Marj'  Metcalf, 
was  born  in  the  north  part  of  Franklin  20th  September,  1808. 
He  fitted  for  college,  partly  at  Medway  Village  Academy-  and 
partly  with  Eev.  E.  Smalley,  of  Franklin.  He  entered  Amherst 
College  in  1832,  but  was  compelled  to  leave  after  one  term,  on 
account  of  his  ej'es.  On  a  journey  West  for  his  health,  he  stopped 
at  a  village  in  New  York  called  Painted  Post,  where  his  traveUng 
bag,  marked  "  Franklin,"  attracted  the  notice  of  a  Mr.  French  in 
search  of  a  school-teacher.  This  led  to  inquir}'  and  ultimatelv  to 
the  engagement  of  jNIr.  Metcalf  to  open  a  private  school  there. 
From  Painted  Post  he  went  to  Auburn,  N.  Y.,  where  such  success 
attended  his  school  that  he  sent  East  for  an  assistant.  Miss  Car- 
oline C.  Plimpton,  of  Medway,  was  secured,  and  to  her  he  was 
not  long  after  married.  But  his  health  still  further  filled.  He 
was  compelled  to  relinquish  his  place  in  school  and  he  lived  less 
than  a  year  after  his  marriage.  He  died  of  consumption  at  home 
11th  August,  1837.  His  widow  afterwards  became  the  well-known 
and  successful  principal  of  the  Wheaton  Female  Seminary,  Nor- 
ton, for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and  still  is  active  in 
educational  work. 

Alfred  Metcalf,  Esq.,  brother  of  Ehab,  and  son  of  Dea. 
James  and  Abigail  (Harding)  Metcalf  was  born  in  Franklin  6th 


ADDENDA.  169 

June,  1781.  He  was  graduated  in  1802  at  Brown  University,  in 
the  class  with  Melatiah  Everett,  Dr.  S.  Bugbee  of  Wrentham,  and 
Samuel  M.  Pond  of  Franklin,  and  entered  the  legal  profession.  He 
removed  to  Kentucky  and  began  practice,  where  he  was  appointed 
Judge.  But  his  health  compelled  him  to  seek  a  wanner  climate, 
and  he  removed  further  South  to  Natchez,  Miss.,  in  the  spring 
of  1819,  where  he  was  seized  by  an  epidemic  fever  in  the  follow- 
ing summer  and  died  at  the  seat  of  AVilliam  M.  Greene,  Esq., 
near  that  city,  30th  October,  1819.  The  Mississippi  State  Gazette 
of  6th  May,  1820,  printed  at  Natchez,  saj's  of  Mr.  Metcalf :  — 

He  was  one  with  whom  few  could  be  compared,  for  he  was  em- 
phatically the  favorite  of  Nature.  His  acquirements  and  his  ■vir- 
tues commanded  the  respect  of  the  world  and  the  warmest  affec- 
tions of  his  friends.  Although  always  modest  and  retiring  he 
possessed  the  unconscious  art  of  throwing  a  charm  into  his  manner 
and  conversation  which  not  only  entranced  the  gay.  but  gladdened 
even  the  hearts  of  the  sad.  He  sunk  in  the  meridian  of  life  and 
left  a  vaciunn  in  society  which  others  may  till,  but  which  we  have 
yet  found  none  to  supply. 

Dr.  Ebexezer  Metcalf  was  the  eighth  child  of  Michael  and 
Abial  (Colburn)  Metcalf,  and  was  born  in  Franklin,  1st  June,  1727. 
His  father  was  an  original  member  of  the  Franklin  church,  and 
was  chosen  ruling  elder  8th  March.  1738-9  ;  he  and  his  associate, 
Jonathan  Wright,  being  the  only  ones  elected  to  that  office  in  the 
church.  Dr.  Metcalf  is  believed  to  have  been  the  first  physician 
in  the  West  precinct,  where  he  practiced  for  as  many  as  fifty  years 
with  gi-eat  acceptance.  He  died  30th  March,  1801,  in  his  71th 
^•ear. 

Dr.  Metcalf  married.  27th  November.  1755,  Hannah  Morse,  and 
had  only  one  son  Paul,  mentioned  further  on  in  these  sketches. 

Eliab  Metcalf  was  born  in  Franklin,  5th  Februarj-,  1785,  and 
was  the  third  son  of  Deacon  James  and  Abigail  (Harding)  Met- 
calf of  River  End.  He  was  intended  to  be  his  father's  successor 
on  the  farm,  and  he  spent  his  time  thereon,  except  in  the  short 
terms  of  the  district  school,  until  he  was  18,  when  a  severe  cold 
disabled  him  and  laid  the  foundation  for  the  disease  which  pursued 
him  through  life.  In  1807  he  fell  in  with  a  native  of  Guadaloupe 
name  Lauriel  who  was  being  educated  in  this  country,  and  ac- 
cepted an  invitation  to  spend  the  winter  with  him  in  his  home. 
On  his  return  from  Guadaloupe  in  the  spring,  Metcalf  renewed 


170  HISTORY   OF   FRANKLIN. 

Ms  cold  and  was  eoiiliued  in  New  \urk  several  we  '  uivi  i  ihe 
care  of  Dr.  Dwight  Post.  This  attack  released  him  periiiauentlj- 
from  the  labors  of  the  field,  and  having  a  decided  taste  for  draw- 
ing he  inclined  to  become  a  painter.  Bnt  his  friends  discouraging 
Mm,  he  betook  himself  to  trading  in  the  West  Indies.  Unsuccess- 
ful in  business,  he  turned  himself  again  to  his  favorite  pursuit,  and 
■with  his  father's  reluctant  consent  to  what  he  thought  a  trifling 
occupation,  began  the  painting  of  miniature  portraits.  He  was 
still  in  feeble  health,  but  when  able  "he  traveled  as  a  miniature 
painter  for  many  jears  in  New  England,  Canada,  and  Nova  Scotia. 
At  length  he  went  to  New  York  citj-,  opened  a  studio  and  studied 
drawing  in  connection  with  it,  under  John  Rubens  Smith,  a  some- 
what celebrated  teacher.  In  1815  he  began  oil  painting  under 
Messrs.  "Waldo  &  Jewett.  But  his  health  slowly  waned  under  the 
confinement,  and  in  1819  he  was  compelled  to  leave  his  young 
family  and  friends,  and,  furnished  with  letters  of  introduction  to 
prominent  gentlemen  in  New  Orleans,  betake  himself  to  that 
citj-.  Being  the  only  portrait  painter  there,  his  business  increased 
rapidly  and  his  health  improved.  He  remained  here  three  years, 
with  the  exception  of  one  visit  to  New  York,  taken  all  the  way 
on  horseback  through  the  Western  States.  In  the  autumn  of 
1822  he  visited  the  island  of  St.  Thomas.  He  remained  on  this 
island  and  St.  Croix  four  years,  fully  employed  on  the  portraits 
of  their  officials  and  distinguished  citizens.  A  government  ship 
was  sent  also  to  can-y  him  to  Porto  Rico  to  paint  its  Governor's 
portrait,  where  he  was  treated  with  gi-eat  respect  and  remained  six 
months  constantly  occupied.  He  had  now  attained  the  highest 
rank  as  an  artist,  and  his  health  had  become  so  established  that  he 
resolved  to  spend  one  winter  with  his  beloved  family  in  New  York. 
But  the  old  cough  re-appeared  and  he  had  to  return,  this  time  to 
Havana.  He  was  able  here  to  resume  his  palette  again  in  its  mild 
climate,  and  for  eight  years  was  occupied  with  an  ever-widening 
circle  of  patrons.  He  spent  each  summer  with  his  family  in  New 
England  and  his  winters  South  in  his  profession. 

In  April,  1833,  Mr.  Metcalf  was  seized  with  the  cholera,  then 
raging  in  Cuba,  from  which  he  recovered,  but  he  never  touched 
pencil  again.  He  was  able  to  visit  his  friends  in  June,  but  felt 
compelled  to  return  in  the  fall,  taking  with  him  his  second  son. 
The  voyage  proved  tempestuous  and  cold,  and  was  too  much  for 


ADDENDA.  171 

his  weakeued  condition.  He  was  tei  '  ily  cared  for  on  his  arrival, 
but  he  'iradiuiii.  sar",  in  debilit"  mi  '  lan.  lo.  1834.  v,-heu  he  fell 
on  sleep. 

Mr.  Metealf  married,  September,  1814,  Miss  Ann  Benton, 
daughter  of  Capt.  Selah  Benton,  a  Revolutionary  officer,  and  had 
four  children.  It  is  said  of  Mr.  Metealf  that  there  are  in  Cuba 
more  portraits  by  him  than  b}'  auj'  other  artist. 

Ferdinand  Metcalf  was  sou  of  Dr.  John  and  Eunice  Metealf, 
and  brother  of  Dr.  WilUam  Pitts  Metealf.  He  was  born  in  Frank- 
lin 22d  November,  17G0.  He  fitted  for  college  and  entered  Brown 
Universitj-,  but  died  during  his  junior  year,  11th  October,  1777,  at 
the  age  of  17.  He  intended  to  study  for  the  medical  profession, 
for  which  his  family  seemed  created. 

Dr.  John  Metcale,  the  sou  of  Samuel  and  Judith  (George) 
Metealf,  was  born  in  Franklin  3d  Jul}-,  1734.  He  studied  Latin 
under  the  tuition  of  Rev.  David  Thurston  of  Medwa}-  West,  in 
1755,  and  medicine  with  Dr.  Joseph  Hews  of  Providence,  R.  I. 
He  married  Eunice  Metealf  in  1759,  and  practiced  his  profession 
in  Franklin  until  his  wife's  death,  1st  August,  1805,  when  he  soon 
after  removed  to  Vermont,  where  he  died  22d  August,  1822,  aged 
88.  Dr.  Metealf  had  two  children,  Ferdinand  and  Wilham  Pitt, 
both  mentioned  in  these  notes. 

Dr.  John  George  Metcalf,  son  of  Dr.  William  P.  and  Susanna 
(Torrey)  Metcalf,  was  born  "  in  the  three-story  house,"  City  Mills, 
FrankUn,  10th  September,  1801.  He  fitted  for  college  with  Mas- 
ter John  Barrett  of  Hopkinton,  and  at  Day's  Academj-,  Wrentham  ; 
gi-aduated  at  Brown  University,  1820,  and  studied  medicine  with 
Dr.  Usher  Parsons  of  Providence,  R.  I.,  and  with  Dr.  N.  Miller  of 
Franklin.  He  received  the  degree  of  M.  D.  from  Harvard  Uni- 
versity 1820,  and  settled  in  Mendon  .June  22d  following,  where  he 
has  since  remained  in  a  ^ide  and  successful  practice. 

In  1856  Dr.  Metcalf  gave  the  annual  address  before  the  Massa- 
chusetts Medical  Society,  of  which  he  was  chosen  a  Vice-President 
in  1860.  He  was  in  1858  and  1859  elected  to  the  State  Senate, 
and  has  held  raany  other  offices  in  town  and  memberships  of  His- 
torical Societies  especiall}',  not  the  least  of  them  being  the  town 
treasurer  of  Mendon,  aunuaUj'  chosen  since  1859,  or  nearly  twenty 
years. 


172  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

Dr.  Metcalf  married,  26th  Februar3-,  1826,  Miss  Abigail  Hol- 
brook.     His  eliildren  were  born  in  Mendon. 

Dr.  Paul  Metcalf,  son  of  Dr.  Ebenezer  and  Hannah  (Morse) 
Metcalf,  was  born  in  Franklin  7th  March,  1766.  He  became  also 
a  physician  in  his  native  town,  and  promised  to  be  a  reputable 
practitioner,  but  was  cut  off' in  earlj-  hfe,  dying  9th  August,  1793, 
in  his  27th  j-ear. 

Theron  Metcalf  *  was  the  sou  of  Hanan  and  Mary  (Allen) 
Metcalf  of  Franklin,  and  was  born  16th  October,  178-1.  His  father 
lived  on  a  small  farm  adjoining  the  Common,  aud  was  next  neighbor 
to  Rev.  Dr.  Emmons.  The  son,  showing  strong  affinities  for  books, 
began  classical  studies  with  the  minister,  and  iu  ISOo  was  gradu- 
ated at  Brown  Universitj'.  He  then  studied  law  with  a  Mr.  Bacon 
in  Canterbury  Conn.,  and  in  April  following  entered  the  law  school 
at  Litchfield  —  at  that  date  the  only  law  school  in  the  United  States. 
He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  that  State  in  October,  1807  ;  but 
he  spent  a  year  in  study  with  Hon.  Seth  Hastings  of  Mendon,  and 
was  admitted  at  Dedham  as  Attorney  of  the  Circuit  Court.  In  181 1 
he  became  counselor  of  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court  for  Massa- 
chusetts. After  a  j'ear's  practice  in  his  home  town,  where  little  law 
business  ever  developed,  he  removed  in  1809  to  Dedham,  where 
he  remained  for  thirty  j-ears  as  an  acknowledged  master  in  his 
profession.  For  twelve  years  from  April,  1817,  he  was  Countj' 
Attornej'.  In  1831,  1833  and  1834  he  represented  Dedham  in 
the  House,  and  in  183.T  in  the  Senate  of  our  State,  and  was  each 
year  Chairman  of  the  .Judiciary  Committee. 

In  addition  to  his  profession,  for  man}'  j-ears  he  edited  the 
Dedham  Gazette^  and  in  1.S28  he  opened  a  law  school  and  gave  law 
lectures  in  Dedham.  These  lectures  resulted  in  a  book,  since 
highlj-  commended,  entitled  "  Principles  of  the  Law  of  Contracts 
as  applied  by  Courts  of  Law."  This  was  but  the  beginning  of  a 
series  of  valuable  professional  works,  court  reports,  etc.,  from  his 
pen,  which  have  been  commended  by  high  authority  for  their  '■  great 
precision,  terseness  and  purity  of  style,  with  acciiracj',  clearness, 
completeness  and  condens.ation  of  statement." 

In  1835  Mr.  Metcalf  was  appointed  with  Horace  Mann,  two 

*A  memoir,  prepared  for  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society  hy  George  S. 
Hale,  lias  given  a  full  sketch  of  his  public  career.    We  add  biographical  notes. 


ADDENDA.  173 

Franklin  sons,  to  edit  the  Eevised  Statutes  of  the  State.  In 
December,  1839,  he  was  chosen  reporter  of  the  decisions  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  and  removed  to  Boston.  His  reports  have  been 
called  "the  model  and  the  despair  of  reporters."  In  1848,  Feb- 
ruarj'  25th,  he  was  appointed  Associate  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court.  He  held  this  office  until  31st  August,  1865,  when  he  re- 
signed it,  after  seventeen  j^ears  of  unblemished  fldelit}-  and  after 
eighty  3-ears  of  life,  to  sjiend  his  last  daj-s  in  the  quiet  which  he 
loved. 

Judge  Metcalf  was  twice  elected  a  Fellow  of  Brown  University, 
in  1832  and  1847.  He  was  also  its  secretar}'  for  sis  j-ears.  He 
received  from  it  the  degree  of  LL.D.  in  1844,  and  the  same  de- 
gree from  Harvard  University  in  1848.  He  also  prepared  the  tri- 
ennial catalogues  of  his  Alma  Mater  for  3'ears,  and  enriched  its 
librarj'  with  a  collection  of  occasional  sermons,  over  8,000  in  num- 
ber, such  as  no  other  librar}-  possesses.  He  died  in  Boston  13th 
November,  1875,  at  the  age  of  91. 

Judge  Metcalf  married  Miss  Julia  Tracy,  of  Litchfield,  Conn., 
and  had  three  children. 

His  son  George  Tracy  graduated  B.  U.  1853,  and  practiced  law 
in  Peoria,  111.,  until  his  death.  Theodore  has  been  for  j'ears  a 
widelj"  known  druggist  on  Tremont  Row,  Boston,  and  is  still  in 
active  business.  He  had  one  daughter,  Julia,  living  unmamed  in 
Boston. 

Dr.  William  Pitt  Metcalf,  j-ounger  son  of  Dr.  John  Metcalf, 
was  born  in  Franklin  30th  June,  1775.  He  pursued  the  Latin 
and  Greek  languages  with  Rev.  Caleb  Alexander  of  Mendon, 
and  medicine  with  Dr.  Samuel  Willard  of  Uxbridge.  He  began 
practice  in  1800,  at  first  with  his  father,  but  afterwards  bj-  him- 
self, and  continued  the  widelj'-known  and  prominent  ph3-sician  of 
this  town  for  forty  j'ears.  In  his  old  age  he  retired  to  his  son's 
house  in  Mendon,  where  he  spent  the  chief  portion  of  his  time  in 
reading.  The  New  Testament  in  the  original  Greek  was  his  daily 
studj-  up  to  the  last  da3-  of  his  life.  He  died  suddenly  and  with- 
out warning  4th  Januaiy,  1861,  aged  86. 

Dr.  Metcalf  married,  25th  November,  1799,  Miss  Susanna  Tor- 
rey,  and  left  several  children,  among  them  Dr.  J.  G.  Metcalf,  al- 
ready mentioned. 

Dr.  William  Warren  Metcalf,  a  native  of  Franklin,  was  born 


174  HISTORY   OF   FRANKLIN. 

12th  April,  1819.  and  was  the  son  of  William  and  SaUy  (Gaskill) 
Metcalf.  He  gained  most  of  his  education  at  the  FrankUn  Acad- 
emy, but  being  of  small  physical  vigor  constitutionally,  he  could 
not  take  a  full  collegiate  course.  He  studied  dentistrj-  -with  Dr. 
Mayo  of  Boston,  and  established  an  office  in  Franklin  in  1847. 
He  was  an  unusuallj-  ingenious  operator,  anticipating  manj'  im- 
provements in  his  profession.  About  1862  he  removed  to  Boston, 
but  his  feeble  health  culminated  finall}-  in  a  diseased  brain,  of 
which  he  died  18th  August,  1870.     He  was  never  married. 

Dr.  Erasmus  Daewin  Miller  is  a  son  of  Franklin,  born  7th 
April,  1813,  at  the  River  End,  and  the  youngest  child  of  Dr. 
Nathaniel  and  Hannah  (Boyd)  INIiller.  He  graduated  at  Brown 
University,  1832,  and  after  a  full  course  of  medical  study,  estab- 
lished himself  in  practice  at  the  center  of  his  native  town.  He 
was  admitted  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical  .Societ3'  in 
1838,  and  about  the  same  date  removed  to  Dorchester,  where  he 
has  since  resided,  following  his  profession  with  success,  especiallj' 
in  the  department  of  surgerj',  for  which  the  Jliller  family  have 
apparently'  a  peculiar  procli^•ity  and  natural  skill. 

Dr.  Miller  married  Louisa  Clark,  and  had  two  children  during 
his  residence  in  Franklin. 

Dr.  Levtis  Leprelette  Miller,  oldest  son  of  Dr.  Nathaniel  Mil- 
ler, and  brother  of  Dr.  E.  D.  Miller,  was  born  in  Franklin,  6th 
January,  1798.  He  graduated  at  Brown  Universitj',  1817.  After 
gaining  his  profession  he  established  an  office  in  Providence,  where 
he  gained  a  wide  reputation  and  practice  as  a  physician,  and  espe- 
cially as  a  surgeon.  He  was  for  j-ears  President  of  the  Rhode 
Island  Medical  Societj'.     He  died  in  Providence. 

His  son  Nathaniel  became  a  celebrated  surgeon,  was  studying 
in  Europe  during  the  Crimean  war,  and  connected  in  some  waj' 
with  the  Russian  hospitals,  but  an  early  death  destroyed  the  hopes 
of  his  coming  usefulness. 

Dr.  Nathaniel  Miller,  although  a  native  of  Rehoboth,  the  son 
of  Philip  Miller,  became  a  son-in-law  of  Franklin  and  one  of  its 
prominent  citizens,  as  well  as  one  of  the  eminent  surgeons  of  East- 
ern Massachusetts.  He  studied  medicine  first  as  an  apprentice  to 
Dr.  Louis  Leprelette  in  Norton. 

Dr.  Leprelette  was  a  noteworthy  man,  a  French  physician  who 
left  his  country  during  the  dynasty  of  the  first  Napoleon,  and  of 


/l^/^^^-z.1^     /A^i^^^^t^     ^  .  o^ 


Dr.  Lewis  Leprilete  Miller. 


ADDENDA.  175 

whom  he  would  not  speak,  and  followed  his  profession  awhile  in 
FrankUn.  He  died  there,  but  was  buried  in  Roxbmy.  He  was 
reticent  of  his  personal  history  and  few  facts  only  have  been  i)re- 
served  of  him. 

Dr.  Miller  received  the  degi'ee  of  A.  M.  from  Bowdoiu  College 
1814,  and  of  M.  D.  in  1817  from  both  Brunswich  and  Cambridge. 
He  was  also  Vice-President  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Societ}- 
for  manj^  j-ears.  He  erected  a  large  building  for  a  hospital  near 
his  residence  to  accommodate  the  man}"^  patients  who  flocked  to 
him  for  treatment.  He  also  built  a  small  thread-mill  near  his 
house  which  was  managed  bj' Col.  Willard  Boj'd,  his  wife's  brother, 
and  others  of  that  family.  Mr.  Willard  Levering  began  his  train- 
ing in  this  mill,  who  afterwards  established  with  his  sons  the  large 
and  celebrated  Whittenton  Mills  of  Taunton. 

Dr.  Miller  married  Hannah  Boyd  of  Franklin  1st  January,  1797, 
and  had  three  children,  sons,  two  of  whom  have  been  already  men- 
tioned, and  John  Warren,  a  man  of  business  in  Franklin.  Dr. 
Miller  died  10th  June,  1850. 

Dr.  Miller  had  an  uncommon  steadiness  of  nerve,  which  enabled 
him  to  perform  the  most  difficult  surgical  operations.  He  was  al- 
ways interested,  active  and  generous  in  all  matters  of  public  ben- 
efit, and  was  chosen  often  to  act  upon  important  committees.  Of 
his  wife  Dr.  Emmons  said,  "  she  is  one  of  the  three  best  women 
in  town." 

Prof.  Calvin  Smith  Pennell  is  substantially  a  son  of  Franklin, 
although  he  was  born  a  little  while  before  becoming  a  resident. 
His  mother  belonged  to  one  of  its  oldest  families,  and  returned  to 
Franklin  with  her  four  children  upon  the  death  of  her  husband,  to 
spend  the  chief  part  of  her  life  on  the  home  acres.  Mr.  Pennell 
was  born  24th  Januaiy,  1816,  in  Coleraine,  being  the  sou  of  Cal- 
vin and  Rebecca  (Mann)  Pennell.  The  mother  was  a  sister  of 
Hon.  Horace  Mann. 

Calvin  S.  fitted  for  college  in  the  Frankhn  Academy  and  gradu- 
ated at  Water^dlle  College,  now  Colby  Universitj-,  Maine,  in  1841. 
He  had  the  ministrj-  in  view,  but  temporaril}-  engaging  in  teaching, 
the  disposition  to  it  grew  by  what  it  fed  on,  the  whole  Mann  family 
having  a  proclivity  that  way,  and  cheered  on  by  noticeable  suc- 
cess, he  continued  in  the  caUing  to  which  he  has  shown  himself 
especiallj-  fitted.     First  he  taught  at  Daj-'s  Academy,  Wrentham. 


176  HISTORY   OP   FRANKLIN. 

He  next  went  to  the  Higli  School  in  Cabottville  (now  Chicopee)  ; 
thence  to  Charlestown,  and  to  the  High  School  in  Lawrence.  He 
filled  with  acceptance  the  Professorship  of  Latin  language  and 
literature  in  Antioch  College,  Yellow  Springs,  O.,  but  afterwards, 
in  1856,  was  called  to  the  High  School  in  St.  Louis,  Mo.  He  was 
elected  in  1862  as  one  of  the  professors  of  Washington  University 
in  that  city,  and  soon  after  was  promoted  to  the  principalship  of 
the  Mary  Institute  —  a  girls'  school  under  the  University  charter. 
He  is  now  Bridge  Professor  of  Intellectual  and  Moral  Philosophy 
in  the  University,  and  Principal  of  the  Mary  Institute  in  St.  Louis. 

Professor  Pennell,  while  in  Cabotville,  married  Elizabeth  W. 
Abbott  of  Woburn.  She  died  two  years  afterwards,  leaving  one 
daughter,  who  died  in  1874  in  Dusseldorf,  Germany,  the  wife  of 
James  W.  Pattison,  an  artist,  residing  there.  He  next  married 
Elizabeth  O.  Emmes  of  Charlestown,  and  has  one  daughter, 
Maria  Francis,  wife  of  Charles  C,  son  of  the  late  Chancellor 
Iloyt  of  the  "Washington  Universit}-,  St.  Louis. 

It  ma  J'  not  be  out  of  place  here  to  add,  as  evidence  of  the  teach- 
ing facultj'  resident  in  the  Mann  family  to  which  Professor  Pen- 
nell belonged,  that  his  ftither  and  mother  were  both  adepts  in  the 
profession,  and  his  three  sisters  devoted  themselves  to  school-teach- 
ing until  called  into  a  smaller  circle  of  pupils  by  marriage.  Mrs. 
Rebecca  M.  (Pennell)  Dean,  Governor  Briggs  said,  was  the  best 
teacher  in  the  world.  She  is  now  a  widow  and,  at  this  present,  is 
traveling  with  a  class  of  3'oung  ladies  in  Europe  for  their  educa- 
tion. Mrs.  Eliza  M.  (Pennell)  Blake  was  teacher  in  the  Packer 
Institute,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  at  her  death  in  1857.  Mrs.  Marcia 
(Pennell)  Hersey  was  also  a  teacher  at  her  marriage,  and  is  now 
first  directress  of  an  Industrial  School  in  Brooklyn. 

Maria  INIann,  a  daughter  of  Stanley,  lirother  of  Horace  Mann, 
and  a  cousin  of  the  Pennells,  attained  a  high  distinction  in  the 
Western  cities  as  a  teacher.  These  were  all  members  of  the  old 
Franklin  Academy,  and  hence  their  success  has  been  a  pleasant 
item  to  record  in  this  seemingl}-  out-of-place  corner.  The  two 
sons  of  Horace  INIann  are  also  teachers  of  repute. 

Rev.  William  Phiits,  Jr.,  was  the  eldest  son  of  WiUiam  and 
Fanny  (Moulton)  Phipps,  and  a  descendant  of  John  Phipps  of 
Wrentham,  1700.  He  was  born  in  Franklin  31st  October,  1812. 
He  attended  several  terms  at  Day's  Academy,  Wrentham,  and  at 


Dr.  Nathaniel  Miller,  Senior. 


ADDENDA.  i ( ( 

IC  taught  school  at  City  Mills  and  the  Mount  districts  in  his 
native  town.  In  1831  he  completed  fitting  for  college  at  the  Clas- 
sical Institute,  Med  way  village,  and  was  graduated  at  Amherst 
College  1837.  He  afterwards  taught  school  one  year  in  Edgar- 
town,  M.  v.,  and  then  studied  theology  with  Rev.  Dr.  Ide  of  West 
Medway ;  was  approbated  bj'  the  Mendon  Association  20th  Au- 
gust, 1839,  and  was  installed  at  Paxton  11th  November,  1840. 
He  labored  industriously  here  for  nearlj-  thirty  j-ears  and  to  unan- 
imous acceptance,  until  he  resigned  and  was  dismissed  12th  Feb- 
ruary, 1869.  He  soon  received  a  call  from  the  church  in  Plain- 
field,  Conn.,  and  was  installed  there  9th  June  of  the  same  year. 
He  was  successfully  working  in  this  new  position  when  death  sud- 
denly opened  the  door  to  him  unto  the  perfect  life.  He  died  13th 
June,  1876,  aged  63  j-ears  and  8  months,  in  triumph  and  song. 

Mr.  Phipps  was  widel}-  known  as  a  teacher  and  composer  of 
music.  He  was  skillful,  too,  in  the  making  of  his  own  instruments, 
and  it  was  well  that  almost  his  last  words  were  uttered  in  some  of 
his  favorite  hymns.  The  writer  must  be  allowed  to  record  here 
this  brief  and  imperfect  memento  of  the  steady  and  cordial  friend- 
ship of  his  early  and  life-long  companion. 

Mr.  Phipps  married,  oth  September,  1837,  Marcy  C.  Partridge, 
eldest  daughter  of  Eleazer,  Jr.,  and  Marj'  (Fisher)  Partridge,  by 
whom  he  had  seven  children,  five  still  living.  His  two  sons,  George 
Gardner  and  Wilham  Hamilton,  are  graduates  of  Amherst  College, 
1862,  and  are  both  Congregational  ministers.  Rev.  George  G.  is 
pastor  of  the  church  at  Newton  Highlands,  and  Rev.  W.  H.  of  the 
church  in  Prospect,  Conn. 

Rev.  George  Gardner  Phipps,  son  of  Rev.  William  and  Mary 
C  (Partridge)  Phipps,  was  born  in  Franklin  11th  December,  1838. 
He  fitted  for  college  at  Munson  Academy-,  and  graduated  at  Am- 
herst College  1862,  and  at  Andover  Theological  Seminar3-  in  186.5. 

He  supplied  the  church  in  Ashland  for  two  years,  from  Septem- 
ber, 1865,  to  October,  1867,  and  was  next  settled  as  pastor  at 
Welleslej',  23d  January,  1868.  After  a  ten  3-ears'  pastorate  he 
was  dismissed  1st  April,  1878,  to  take  charge  of  the  church  at 
Newton  Highlands,  where  he  was  installed  -tth  April  last. 

Mr.  Phipps  maiTied,  12th  September,  1865,  Kathleen  M.  Car- 
ruth  of  Phillipston,  daughter  of  Russell  and  Susan  Ward  Carruth. 

Dr.  Benjamin  Pond  was  born   in   Franklin   -Ith   April,   1789. 

12 


178  HISTORY   OF   FRANKLIN. 

He  was  son  of  Benjamin  and  Catharine  (Cutler)  Pond,  graduated 
from  the  Medical  College.  Dartmouth.  1813,  as  M.  D.,  and  prac- 
ticed in  "Westboro  through  life. 

He  first  married  Lucy,  daughter  of  Jonas  Gale  :  second.  Eunice 
L.  Cloj-es,  and  third  Luc}'  M.  Brigham,  and  had  three  children. 
He  died  7th  June,  1857. 

Rev.  Daniei,  Pond,  the  earliest  known  graduate  from  this  town, 
was  son  of  John  and  Rachel  (Fisher)  Pond.  He  graduated  at 
Harvard  University,  1745,  and  was  ordained  in  Templeton,  then 
Narragansett  township  No.  G,  10th  December,  1755  ;  dismissed 
August.  1759.  lie  removed  to  Medway,  where,  for  many  years,  he 
fitted  youth  for  college.  He  left  the  West  church,  being  strongly 
opposed  to  the  pastor,  Rev.  D.  Sanford,  for  his  Hopkinsianism, 
and  joined  the  First  church.  This  induced  a  long  dissension  be- 
tween the  churches.  He  finally  sold  his  farm  and  disappears  from 
all  record.     Tradition  says  he  died  at  Otter  Creek. 

He  married  Lois  Metcalf,  who  died  in  Medwaj%  17th  JIarch, 
1787.  One  child  only  survived,  Miranda,  who  married  Abner 
Merrifield  of  Newfane,  Vt.  It  was  in  Mr.  Pond's  family*  that 
Judge  Aldis  had  his  early  training. 

Dr.  Elisha  Pond  was  the  son  of  Elisha  and  Margaret  (Met- 
calf) Pond,  born  in  Franklin  21st  Februarj',  1749.  He  was  prac- 
ticing physician  in  town  for  many  years.  He  married  Olive  Dean 
and  died  21st  December,  1807,  leaving  two  children,  Edna,  who  is 
believed  to  have  married  Timothy  Hill,  and  Olive,  who  married 
Abijah  Richardson,  Jr.  His  widow  married  Ebenezer  Clark,  of 
Medfleld. 

Dr.  Erasmus  Allixgton  Pond  is  a  sou  of  Franklin,  being 
born  in  Union\dlle,  6th  Jul}-,  1828,  and  eldest  son  of  Goldsbur}-,  Jr., 
and  Julia  Ann  Pond.  He  was  educated  partlj'  in  the  Franklin 
Academj-  and  by  private  instruction.  He  studied  medicine  with 
Dr.  S.  Atwood,  of  Frankhn.  and  Dr.  Lynch  of  South  Carolina. 
He  resided  at  Baltimore  a  while  and  attended  medical  lectures  in 
the  Maryland  University  in  that  city ;  also  in  the  Tremont  Medi- 
cal School,  Boston,  and  at  the  Medical  Department  of  Harvard 
University,  where  he  received  the  degree  of  M.  D.  in  1853. 

Dr.  Pond  soon  after  established  his  office  in  Rutland,  Vt.,  where 
he  still  is  widely  known  and  emploj-ed  in  his  profession.  He,  for 
the   first  time  in  New  England,  successfully  performed  tracheot- 


ADDENDA.  179 

Oin_y  in  diphtheria.  He  is  also  the  inventor  of  the  "  new  sphj'gmo- 
graph"  for  measuring  and  tracing  arterial  pulsation,  which  proves 
of  great  value  to  the  profession. 

Dr.  Pond  was  married  19th  August,  1850,  to  Adela  M.  Morse, 
daughter  of  George  W.  and  Esther  (Pond)  Morse,  of  Franklin, 
and  has  five  children. 

Gilbert  C.  Pond,  son  of  Timothy  and  Rachel  (Adams)  Pond, 
was  born  in  Franklin,  4th  November,  1812.  He  studied  the  lan- 
guages at  the  Medwa}-  Class.  Institute,  and  entered  Williams  Col- 
lege, but  left  to  engage  as  teacher  in  Lexington,  Kj-.,  where  he 
died  unmarried  5th  Xovember.  1835,  at  the  earlj-  age  of  23. 

Dr.  Metcalp  Everett  Posd  is  the  youngest  child  of  Golds- 
bnrv.  Jr.,  and  Julia  Ann  Pond.  He  was  born  in  Franklin,  Union- 
ville,  26th  October,  1845.  graduated  Dean  Academj-  18G9,  stud- 
ied dentistry  three  j-ears  with  Prof.  I.  J.  Wetherbee,  of  Boston, 
and  graduated  D.  D.  S.  from  the  Boston  Dental  College  in  1874. 
He  is  now  practicing  in  his  profession  in  Auburndale,  Mass. 

Samuel  Metcalf  Poxd,  Esq..  the  youngest  son  of  Oliver  and 
Anne  (Metcalf)  Pond,  born  in  Franklin  16th  November,  1777, 
graduated  at  Brown  University  1802  ;  studied  law  and  opened  an 
office  in  Bucksport,  Me.  He  became  well  known  through  the 
State  for  his  intelligence,  energy  i\nd  moral  worth,  and  stood  high 
at  the  bar  and  as  Judge  of  Probate.  He  was  a  leading  temper- 
ance man.  A  notice  saj's  of  him,  "the  State,  the  public,  and 
the  town  have  sustained  a  heavj-  loss." 

He  married  Margaret  Dauforth,  and  had  seven  children.  He 
died  23d  January.  1849. 

Rev.  Timothy  Poxd,  born  in  Franklin  15th  September,  1729. 
Was  son  of  Baruch  and  Abigail  (Slocum)  Pond.  H.  U.,  1749. 
Studied  for  the  ministrj-  but  is  not  known  to  have  settled.  He  was 
Lieutenant  in  Capt.  Lemuel  Kollock's  companj-,  which  marched  at 
the  Concord  alarm,  and  private  under  Capt.  Samuel  Fisher  in 
Rhode  Island,  1776.  He  lived  on  his  father's  homestead,  which  he 
sold  to  Dr.  Emmons,  and  which  is  now  in  part  the  site  of  Dean 
Academy.  He  then  removed  to  Wrentham  and  died  there  sud- 
denly 10th  November,  1804. 

He  married  Elizabeth  Bullard  of  Dedham,  and  had  six  children. 

Dr.  Jenner  Lewis  Sweeting  Pratt,  son  of  Dr.  Spencer  and 
Jane  (AVheeler)  Pratt,  was  born  in  Franklin   16th  October,  1825. 


180  HISTORY   OF    FRANKLIN. 

He  prepared  for  college  at  Smith^ille  Academy-,  now  Lapham  In- 
stitute, North  Scituate,  R.  I.,  and  also  under  Eev.  P.  B.  Talbot 
of  Woonsocket,  R.  I.  He  graduated  from  Columbia  College,  Xew 
York  eit}-,  and  studied  medicine  with  Dr.  Hiram  Allen  of  Woou- 
socket,  and  surgerj'  with  Dr.  Arnold  Hazzard  Potter  of  the  same 
town.  He  then  spent  the  years  1845  and  1846  in  the  Bangor  Hos- 
pital. After  practicing  a  while  iu  Woonsocket  he  was  appointed 
to  and  did  make  a  botanical  survey  of  the  State  of  Rhode  Island. 
He  was  also  for  a  time  assistant  surgeon  under  Dr.  Francis  L. 
Wheaton  of  Pro^ideuce,  in  the  Mexican  War. 

Dr.  Pratt  ultimately'  settled,  1851,  in  Michigan  as  physician  at 
Minnesota  Mines,  Ontonagon  river,  Lake  Superior,  where  he  sur- 
vej-ed,  laid  out,  and  named  the  town  of  Rockland.  At  the  time 
of  his  death  he  was  engaged  under  appointment  of  the  Smithson- 
ian Institute,  in  writing  the  natural  history  of  his  region.  He  was 
a  devoted  and  public  temperance  advocate,  and  a  successful  busi- 
ness agent,  accumulating  quite  a  property.  His  death  was  sudden 
and  painful,  being  upset  August,  1854,  in  a  birch  canoe  on  the 
lake  1)3'  a  sudden  gale  and  drowned  with  two  of  his  companions, 
onlj-  one  of  the  four  escaping. 

Dr.  Pratt  married  in  Sault  St.  Marie,  fall  of  1852,  Minerva  B. 
Aldrich  of  Cumberland,  R.  I.  He  left  no  children.  His  widow 
died  a  few  years  since  in  "Woonsocket,  while  on  a  visit  to  her 
friends. 

Spencer  Atkinson  Pratt,  Esq.,  son  of  Dr.  Spencer  and  Eliza- 
beth (Wood)  Pratt  and  half-brother  of  the  preceding,  was  born  in 
Franklin  Center  10th  October,  1808  ;  fitted  for  college  at  Day's 
Academy  and  with  Rev.  Simeon  Daggett  of  Mendou,  and  gradu- 
ated in  1830  at  Brown  University.  He  studied  law  two  years 
with  Hon.  Theron  Metcalf  at  Dedham,  and  spent  one  year  iu  the 
office  of  Warren  Lovering,  Esq.,  at  Medway  village.  He  also 
taught  the  Center  schools  in  Franklin  and  INIilford,  and  was  post- 
master for  a  part  of  1835.  In  1836  he  went  to  Bangor,  Me.,  and 
opened  a  law  office.  He  also  engaged  in  newspaper  writing  and 
acted  as  superintendent  of  schools  in  the  city.  In  May,  1846,  he 
was  appointed  municipal  judge,  which  office  he  held  until  1860. 

In  1836  he  married  Mary  R.  Gilmore,  daughter  of  Da\'id  G., 
Jr.,  of  Newburgh,  Me.,  at  that  time  residing  iu  Franklin. 

Rev.  John  Bovv'ebs  Preston,  who  becomes  connected  with  this 


ADDENDA.  181 

history  l\v  the  marriage  of  a  Franklin  daughter,  was  a  native  of 
Fairfield,  N.  J.,  in  1770.  Early  left  an  orphan,  he  still  made  his 
Tvay  through  college,  graduating  at  William  and  Ann  College, 
Philadelphia,  1793.  Traveling  for  his  health,  he  came  to  Frank- 
lin, where  he  found  his  theologj'  with  Dr.  Emmons,  and  his  wife  at 
Dea.  James  Metcalfs.  He  was  settled  8th  February,  1798,  at 
Rupert,  Vt.,  where  he  suddenly  died  21st  February,  1813.  He 
was  a  remarkably  faithful  minister  and  man. 

Mr.  Preston  married,  6th  January,  1799,  Poll}',  daughter  of 
Asa  Haveu,  then  resident  with  Dea.  .James  Metcalf,  and  niece  of 
his  wife.  The}-  had  live  children,  of  whom  two  sons  graduated 
and  entered  the  ministrj',  and  two  daughters  married  ministers. 

Mrs.  Preston  afterwards  married  Dea.  James  Fisher  of  Gouver- 
neur,  N.  Y.,  where  she  died  23d  March,  18-l.s.  She  was  of  unusual 
talents,  carrj-iug  by  her  own  energy,  in  spite  of  poverty,  her  two 
sons  through  college  and  into  the  ministrj\ 

Lydia  Paine  Ray,  ihejirst  ladj"  collegiate  graduate  from  Frank- 
lin, is  the  daughter  of  Hon.  Joseph  G.  and  Emily  (Rockwood) 
Raj-.  She  was  born  in  Belhngham  22d  July.  1854,  but  came  with 
her  parents  to  Franklin  in  her  infancy  and  has  ever  since  been  a 
dweller  in  the  town.  Miss  Raj'  began  a  full  course  of  classical 
studj-  in  Dean  Academv,  graduating  in  1872.  Thence  she  en- 
tered Vassar  College,  Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y.,  and  graduated  -ndth 
honor  in  1878.  She  is  now  an  active  member  of  the  firm  of  .1.  T. 
&  L.  P.  Raj',  Franklin,  manufacturers  of  felt  and  woolen  goods. 

A  view  of  the  residences  of  the  Ray  brothers  is  given  opposite. 
Thej'  occupj'  the  site  of  Dr.  Elmmons'  house  on  Main  street. 

William  Francis  R.^y'  is  the  onlj'  sou  of  Francis  B.  and  Susan 
B.  (Rockwood)  Ray.  He  was  born  in  the  Makepeace  House  at 
Unioimlle,  Franklin,  2d  March,  1854,  graduated  from  Dean  Acad- 
emj'  1870,  and  from  Brown  Uuiversitj-  1874  ;  was  the  j'oungest  in 
a  class  of  fortj'-five ;  A.  ^M.  1877.  He  is  engaged  now  in  the 
woolen  business  in  his  native  town,  also  chairman  of  school  com- 
mittee, and  has  been  parish  clerk. 

Mr.  Ray  married  Hattie,  daughter  of  Charles  A.  Richardson, 
Esq.,  of  Chelsea,  and  has  one  child. 

Albert  Dean  Richardson,  born  on  the  ancestral  farm  in  North 
Franklin  6th  October,  1833,  was  j-oungest  child  of  Elisha  and  Har- 
riet (Blake)  Richardson.     Ha^'ing  attended  the  P'rankHn  and  Hoi- 


182  HISTORY   OF    FRANKLIN. 

listen  Academies,  he  went  West  in  1850.  At  fli-st  he  taught  school 
uear  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  but  soon  became  reporter  for  tl\e  Pittsburg 
Commercial  Journal,  and  afterwards  editor  of  the  Cincinnati  Ga- 
zette. ■  He  was  in  Kansas  during  its  troubles,  and  reported  them  for 
the  Boston  Journal.  He  was,  while  there.  Secretary'  for  a  time  of 
the  Atchinson  Legislature,  and  Adjutant-General  on  the  (Tover- 
nor's  staff.  He  became  finallj-  connected  with  the  New  York  Tri- 
bune,  and  became  its  Southern  reporter  in  the  beginning  of  tlie 
rebellion.  He  succeeded  in  getting  to  New  Orleans  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  rebellion,  and  thence  could  pass  at  will  within  the  Con- 
federacy. He  was  in  Charleston  at  the  assault  and  capture  of 
Fort  Sumpter.  He  attended  the  opening  of  the  Confederate  Con- 
gi'ess  at  Montgomer3',  Ala.,  taking  notes  with  a  pencil  in  his  coat- 
tail  pocket,  and  sending  his  reports  to  the  Tribune  under  cover  to 
an  associate  in  Canada.  He  finall}-  succeeded  in  reaching  home 
through  the  INIississippi  States.  After  a  short  \'isit  to  his  familj-, 
he  returned  West,  but  in  attempting  to  pass  Vicksburg,  then  be- 
sieged in  the  summer  of  1863,  the  tug  on  which  he  was  was  sunk 
by  a  rebel  shot,  and  he,  on  handing,  was  taken  prisoner.  He  was 
confined  eighteen  months  in  Libby  and  Salisbur}-  prisons,  but 
finally  escaped  December,  1864.  He  subsequently  traveled  West 
as  far  as  California.  Of  his  experiences  in  the  saddle,  the  camp, 
and  the  prison,  vivid  pictures  are  gi\-en  in  the  volumes  he  after- 
wards published. 

He  retained  his  connection  with  the  Tribune  up  to  his  death, 
which  occurred  from  a  pistol  in  the  hands  of  Daniel  McFarland, 
for  alleged  interference  with  his  domestic  aflairs.  He  died  2d  De- 
cember, 1869,  at  the  earl}'  age  of  36.  "  The  affair  caused  im- 
mense excitement  at  the  time."  It  was  regarded  generally  as  a 
case  of  chivalry  interfering  with  brutality. 

Mr.  Richardson  married,  first,  M.  Louise  Pease,  a  native  of  Ohio. 
She  died  4th  March,  1864,  while  he  was  in  prison.  He  married, 
second,  Mrs.  Abb}-  L.  Sage,  the  divorced  wife  of  Daniel  McFar- 
land, during  the  last  hours  of  his  life. 

Rev.  Albert  M.  Richardson,  second  son  of  Eli  M.  and  Meli- 
ta  (Norcross)  Richardson,  was  born  in  Franklin,  28th  July,  1822. 
After  a  school  season  in  the  Franklin  Acadeni}',  he  completed  his 
studies  at  Oberlin  College,  Ohio,  and  was  approbated  to  preach  in 
1846,  at  Kelloggville,  O.     He  was  installed  March.  1847,  over  the 


ADDENDA.  183 

Congregational  church  iu  Lenox,  Ashtabula  county.  O..  and  re- 
mained three  j-ears.  He  next  went,  in  1850,  to  Jamaica,  West 
Indies,  as  missionary  of  the  American  Missionary  Association. 
After  four  years'  ser\-ice  there,  he  was  compelled  by  his  health  to 
return.  He  preached  again  in  Lenox.  O.,  four  j-ears  longer,  and 
thence  went  for  two  years  to  Austinburg.  and  afterwards  preached 
nine  3"ears  in  East  Cleveland.  In  1870  ho  removed  to  Kansas, 
and  was  settled  as  pastor  of  the  Pilgrim  church  in  Lawrence, 
where  he  still  is. 

Mr.  Richardson  married.  30th  May,  1845.  Miss  Eliza  W.  Allen, 
and  has  three  children. 

Charles  Addison  Richardson,  son  of  Elisha  and  Harriet 
(Blake)  Richardson  and  elder  brother  of  Albert  D..  was  born  in 
Franklin,  'Jth  Oetolier,  1829.  He  began  a  preparation  for  the 
ministry,  at  Holliston  Academy,  but  poor  health  compelled  him  to 
resign  the  idea,  and  he  turned  to  teaching.  He  attended  a  course 
of  studv  at  the  AVestfiekl  and  Bridgewater  normal  schools,  and 
taught  afterwards  in  Medwa}'.  Franklin,  Dedham,  and  other 
towns.  In  1854  he  became  clerk  iu  the  bookstore  of  J.  P.  Jew- 
ett  &  Co.,  and  in  1856  entered  the  C'ongregationalist,  of  which  he 
has  since  been  a  proprietor  and  office  editor. 

Mr.  Richardson  married  Mar}'  J.  Phipps,  of  Ashford,  Conn., 
and  a  graduate  of  the  Normal  School  at  Westfield.  They  have 
had  six  children,  of  whom  the  oldest,  Harriet  Phipps,  is  the  wife 
of  W.  F.  Ray,  as  already  mentioned. 

Dr.  Erastus  Richardson  was  son  of  Amasa  and  Lydia  (Haven) 
Richardson.  He  was  born  in  Franklin  3d  April,  1794.  He  went 
to  Maine  in  earlj-  life  and  practiced  his  profession  of  medicine  in 
that  State  with  success  until  his  death  of  a  fever,  August,  1855, 
while  residing  in  Eastport. 

Dr.  Richardson  married,  flrst,Mary  Johnson,  of  Robbinston,  Me.  ; 
second,  Mary  Shumway,  of  Oxford,  Mass.,  and  formerlj-  of  Frank- 
lin. He  had  six  children,  of  whom  George  Nelson  graduated  at 
Bowdoin  College,  1847,  became  a  Unitarian  minister,  and  died  iu 
Worcester.  11th  September,  1870,  aged  43. 

Prof.  Hexry  Bullakd  Richardson,  son  of  Stephen  Wilkes  and 
Eliza  R.  (Bullard)  Richardson,  was  born  in  Frankhn  21st  May, 
1844.  He  fitted  for  college  at  Phillips'  Academy,  Andover,  and 
graduated  at  Amherst  College,  1869.     After  graduation  he  was 


184  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

appointed  instructor  in  Latin  and  Greek  in  the  college  for  five 
years.  In  187G  he  took  charge  of  the  High  School  in  Springfield. 
He  went  to  Europe  for  stiidj'  in  1873,  and  again  in  187G,  where 
he  made  philology  a  specialty  in  the  Leipzig  University.  On  his- 
return  last  summer  he  was  elected  to  the  professorship  of  Latin 
and  German  in  his  Alma  Mater,  which  he  entered  upon  at  the 
fall  term. 

Professor  Richardson  married  Mary  E.  Lincoln,  of  Amherst, 
and  has  two  children. 

Rev.  William  Tyler  Richardson,  son  of  EM  M.  and  Melita 
(Norcross)  Richardson,  was  born  in  Franklin  ■24th  December.  1820. 
He  prepared  for  college  in  the  Franklin  Academj',  under  the  prin- 
cipalship  of  M.  Blake,  A.  Bigelow  and  J.  D.  Baker,  but  was  pre- 
vented by  ill-health  from  completing  a  collegiate  course.  After  a 
few  3-ears  in  business,  which  recruited  his  strength,  he  studied  the- 
ologj'  with  his  brother.  Rev.  A.  M.  Richardson,  then  in  Lenox,  O. 
He  was  ordained  to  the  ministry  at  Saybrook,  O.,  5th  August,  1859. 
He  has  since  preached  in  Gaines,  Orleans  county,  N.  Y.,  in  Kel- 
loggsville  and  Thompson,  O.,  and  is  now  in  Orwell,  0.,  as  pastor 
of  a  Congregational  church. 

Mr.  Richardson  has  been  for  six  years  in  the  service  of  the 
American  Missionary-  Association  at  the  South  amongthe  Freedmen, 
"where,"  he  says,  "scoffs,  threats  and  stones  were  among  the 
highest  commendations."  Three  years  he  acted  as  "  United  States 
Indian  Agent  and  Special  Commissioner  "  in  "Wisconsin,  which  he 
describes  as  "the  most  desperate  struggle  of  my  hfe  —  not  with 
Indians,  to  save  1113-  own  scalp,  but  with  rings  and  rascals  who  lived 
to  wrong  and  rob  the  poor  Indian." 

Mr.  Richardson  married,  20th  April,  1842,  Ellen  M.  Gay  of 
Franklin,  daughter  of  Oliver  and  Maria  Burton  Gaj'. 

Rev.  Ebexezer  Weeks  Robinson,  who  married  Sarah  Bacon, 
daughter  of  Dea.  James  Adams  of  Franklin,  21st  June,  18.38,  was 
the  son  of  Rev.  Ralph  and  Anne  (Weeks)  Robinson,  both  natives 
of  Connecticut.  His  father  was  a  graduate  of  Middlebury  College, 
and  preached  for  half  a  century  in  New  York  State. 

Rev.  Ebenezer  Weeks  was  born  1st  Maj^,  1812,  in  Granville,  N. 
Y. ,  fitted  for  college  with  Rev.  W.  R.  Weeks,  D.  D. ,  of  Newark,  N. 
J.,  and  graduated  at  Hamilton  College,  N.  Y.,  and  at  Auburn  Theo- 
logical Seminary.     He  preached  from  1836  to  1845  in  Assonet  vill, 


ADDENDA.  185 

Freetown,  a  j-ear  at  Carver,  and  in  1849  to  the  Hanover  Society  in 
Lisbon,  Conn.     From  1855  to  1864  he  was  pastor  in  Bethany,  Conn. 

In  March,  1864,  he  was  appointed  clerk  in  the  Paymasters'  De- 
partment at  Washington,  where  he  devoted  his  extra  hours  to  Sun- 
daj-  and  night  schools.  He  also  performed  chaplain  duty  at  Cliff- 
burne  barracks,  until  the  army  was  removed.  To  such  labors  Mr. 
Eobiuson  devoted  himself  until  his  death  at  Washington,  8th 
April,  1869. 

Mr.  Robinson  had  seven  children.  His  second  son,  James  A., 
entered  the  army,  became  clerk  of  the  Ninth  Corps,  and  was  at  the 
siege  of  Vicksburg,  but  was  taken  sick  and  died  on  his  way  home 
from  the  hospital. 

Frank  Ernest  Rockwood,  Esq.,  son  of  Abijah  and  Sarah  (Peck) 
Roclvwood,  was  born  in  Franklin  ^Otli  December,  1852  ;  prepared 
for  college  at  Dean  Academy  and  graduated  B.  U.  1874,  A.  M.  1877. 
After  a  j-ear's  studj-  of  law  in  his  brother's  office,  he  became  teacher 
of  mathematics  and  natural  philosophy  in  the  South  Jersey  Insti- 
tute at  Bridgeton,  X.  J.,  where  he  still  is  a  bachelor,  with  declared 
purpose  of  continuance  unless  defeated. 

Lucius  Osborne  Rockwood,  Esq.,  son  of  Abijah  and  Sarah 
(Peck)  Rockwood,  was  born  in  Franklin  15th  January-,  1847.  Grad- 
uated at  Brown  University  in  1868,  and  commenced  the  practice  of 
law,  1871,  in  Providence.  He  is  now  in  the  firm  of  Lapham  & 
Rockwood. 

Mr.  Rockwood  married,  12th  .June,  1872,  Miss  Eliza  G.  Ham  of 
that  city,  and  has  one  child,  Thurston  Rockwood. 

Dr.  Henry  Elmore  Russegue  was  born  in  Franklin,  11th 
August,  1850.  He  is  the  son  of  Alpheus  A.  and  Mar}'  (Walker) 
Russegue.  After  the  usual  preparatory  studies  he  took  a  medical 
course  in  Homeopathy  at  the  Boston'University,  and  graduated  as 
M.  D.  in  March,  1878.  He  is  now  practicing  in  his  profession  at 
South  Framiugham.     He  is  at  this  date  unmarried. 

George  L.  Satles,  Esq.,  son  of  Oren  W.  and  Almira  (Ballon) 
Sayles,  was  born  in  Franklin,  28th  September,  1830.  He  was 
educated  at  Saxton's  River  Seminarj-  in  Rockingham,  Vt.,  and 
afterwards  spent  some  time  in  traveling,  visiting  California,  Mex- 
ico, Panama,  and  both  the  eastern  and  western  coasts  of  South 
America.  On  his  return  he  established  himself  in  the  profession 
of  law  in  Providence,  R.  I.,  where  he  now  resides  unmarried. 


186  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

Heubert  L.  Sayles  and  Ltcltkgus  Sayles,  as  appears  hy  the 
towu  records,  are  also  sons  of  Oren  W.  and  Almira  (Ballou)  Sayles, 
and  natives  of  Franklin.  They  are  lawyers  in  Providence,  R.  I. 
We  have  failed  to  secure  responses  to  further  inquiries. 

Dea.  AVii.liaji  .SLOCUJir,  was  born  in  Frankhn,  5th  February, 
178.3,  and  was  the  son  of  William  and  Jerusha  (Richardson)  Slo- 
cumb.  His  family  removed  to  Sutton  in  1784,  but  William  not 
long  after  returned  to  Franklin,  where  he  joined  the  church  at  17, 
under  Dr.  Emmons,  whose  teachings  he  often  affirmed  left  a  strong 
impression  upon  his  character.  In  1811  he  returned  to  Sutton, 
where,  by  his  earnest  enthusiasm,  he  became  chief  in  forming 
"  The  Religious  Charitable  Society  for  the  Couiitj-  of  Worcester," 
whose  object  was  to  aid  young  men  in  studj-ing  for  the  ministry, 
feeble  churches  and  foreign  missions,  and  which  preceded  the 
American  Education  Society-  b}-  four  j^ears.*  In  1816.  Deacon 
Slocumb  removed  to  Marietta,  O.,  greatly  prospered  here,  and  still 
impelled  by  the  same  zeal  for  an  educated  ministry,  he  promiuentlj- 
aided  in  the  founding  of  Marietta  College,  and  to  which  he  gave 
largelj',  especially  to  its  hbrary.  In  acknowledgment  of  his  gen- 
erous gifts,  one  of  its  buildings  has  been  called  "  Slocumb  Hall." 
He  also  started  in  jMarietta  the  first  Sunday-school  west  of  the 
Alleghanies.  and  he  wrote  and  jjublished  an  arithmetic,  for  many 
years  the  only  one  used  in  the  then  AVest.  He  was  also  a  school- 
teacher for  years.  In  18.55,  he  came  to  Rochester.  N.  Y.,  where 
he  was  for  seventeen  years  an  elder  in  St.  Peters  Presbyterian 
church.  He  died  9th  May,  1873,  aged  over  90  —  a  long  and  widely 
shining  light  kindled  bj- Dr.  Emmons  in  the  beginning,  and  a  speci- 
men of  the  many  laymen  so  enlcindled. 

Deacon  Slocumb  married  _Selah  Cushing  of  Franklin,  but  had 
no  children.     He  made  Christian  students  his  family  and  heir. 

George  W.  Smalley  is  a  .son  of  Franklin,  being  born  here  dur- 
ing the  pastorate  of  his  father.  Rev.  Elam  Smalley,  although  his 
birth  is  not  recorded.  After  Dr.  Smallej-'s  removal  to  Worcester, 
he  began  classical  studies  and  graduated,  we  believe,  at  Yale  Col- 
lege. From  College  he  turned  to  journalism,  and  became  an  army 
reporter  of  the  New  York  Tribune  during  the  rebellion.  As  an 
instance  of  his  unusual  fitness,  it  is  said  that  his  remarkable  cool- 

*  See  SemWJentennial  Report  of  American  Education  Society,  page  7. 


ADDENDA.  187 

ness  under  fire  at  the  battle  of  Gettysburg  attracted  the  notice  of 
the  General-in-Chief  and  he  employed  him.  in  the  temporary  ab- 
sence of  his  aids,  on  a  perilous  mission,  which  he  executed  ivith 
the  utmost  sanri-froid.  After  the  war  Mr.  Smalley  went  to  Europe 
as  the  Tribune's  foreign  correspondent,  and  still  remains  in  that 
position.  His  signature,  G.  AV".  S.,  is  regarded  as  a  warrant  for 
clearness  of  facts  and  soundness  of  conclusions,  and  his  articles 
form  no  small  part  of  the  value  of  that  widely-circulated  news- 
paper.    His  address  is  Loudon,  but  his  presence  is  Europe. 

Mr.  Smalley  married  a  daughter  (adopted)  of  Wendell  Phillips 
and  has  three  children. 

Dr.  John  Waters  Texney.  a  son-in-law  of  Franklin  through  his 
wife,  was  a  son  of  Daniel  and  Betsej-  (Waters)  Tenuey  of  Sutton, 
where  he  was  born  25th  December,  1802.  He  graduated  at  Brown 
'University  1S23.  and  studied  medicine  first  with  Dr.  David  Smith 
of  Sutton,  then  with  Dr.  X.  Reno  Smith  of  Baltimore,  in  which 
city  he  received  his  diploma  of  M.  D.  He  afterwards  returned  to 
Sutton,  where  and  in  Webster  he  practiced  until  his  death  in  the 
latter  town,  April,  1851. 

Dr.  Tenney  married,  27th  October,  1829,  Eliza  Tileston,  daugh- 
ter of  Caleb  and  Sallj-  (Cushing)  Fisher.  She  is  still  living  in 
St.  Johnsbury,  Vt.  He  left  two  daughters  —  Catharine  Beecher 
and  Helen  Everett,  now  wife  of  David  A.  Alden — both  residing 
in  Windsor,  Yt. 

Dr.  Chaules  H.  Thayer,  a  son  of  Nathaniel  and  Caroline 
(Taft)  Thayer,  was  born  in  Unionville,  Franklin,  2-tth  December, 
1840.  After  studying  in  the  ordinary  public  and  private  schools 
of  the  town  until  14,  he  went  into  a  store  in  Pro^'idence,  R.  I.,  at- 
tending during  the  time  Austin's  Aeademj-  and  the  Commercial 
College  in  that  city.  In  1858  he  returned  to  Franklin  to  attend 
the  Walpole  Academy-.  On  his  return  to  Pro^-ideuce.  in  1861,  he 
began  the  study  of  dentistry  in  the  office  of  Dr.  W.  H.  Helm,  but 
at  the  outbreak  of  the  rebellion,  he,  with  his  two  fellow  students, 
enlisted  in  the  Union  army.  His  experiences  in  camp  and  battle- 
field are  briefly  mentioned  in  our  military  chapter.  He  served 
over  three  j'ears,  was  in  thirty-one  engagements,  a  prisoner  in 
Libby  prison,  and  rose  to  the  rank  of  Captain. 

After  the  war  Captain  Thaver  was  appointed  Special  Agent  of 
the  United  States  Treasurj-,  aud  located  at  Memphis  to  look  after 


188  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

confiscated  rebel  property'.  But  becoming  sick  in  his  travels,  he 
resigned  and  came  to  Baltimore  to  complete  his  studies.  He  grad- 
uated from  the  Baltimore  Dental  College  in  the  spring  of  185G,  and 
not  long  after  opened  an  office  in  Mattoon.  111.  In  September, 
1869,  he  removed  to  Chicago,  where  he  is  now  practicing  his  pro- 
fession. 

Dr.  Thaj'er  married  at  Chicago,  12th  Juh',  1871,  .Juliette  Marga- 
ret Eeed  of  Stykersville,  "Wyoming  count}-,  N.  Y.,  and  has  one 
daughter,  born  6th  August,  1877. 

Eev.  William  Makepeace  Thater  is  the  son  of  Major  Davis 
and  Betsey  (Makepeace)  Thayer.  He  was  born  23d  February, 
1820,  fitted  for  college  at  the  Franklin  Academy,  and  graduated 
at  Brown  University  181.3  ;  studied  theology  with  Rev.  Jacob  Ide, 
D.  D.,  of  Medway,  and  was  approbated  by  the  Mendon  Associa- 
tion 16th  October,  1814.  He  taught  school  in  Attleboro,  Frank- 
lin and  South  Braintree.  He  preached  nearl}^  two  j'ears  in  Edgar- 
town,  M.  v.,  where  he  declined  to  settle,  and  was  finally  installed 
over  the  church  in  Ashland  20th  June,  1819.  In  1857  he  was 
compelled  by  a  throat  disease  to  resign  his  charge  and  leave  the 
pulpit  altogether  for  a  season.  But  able  still  for  student  work  he 
was  engaged  as  editor  of  the  Home  Monthly  and  Mothefs  Assis- 
tant from  1857  to  1862,  when  he  felt  sufficiently  recovered  to  ac- 
cept the  Secretaryship  of  the  Massachusetts  Temperance  Alliance, 
and  h.is  held  it  until  the  present  j'ear,  1878.  In  this  office  he  vis- 
ited and  addressed  large  audiences  in  almost  every  town  in  the 
Commonwealth,  and  many  out  of  the  State. 

While  in  Ashland  Mr.  Thayer  represented  the  town  in  1856  in 
the  Legislature,  also  the  town  of  Franklin  in  1863.  Mr.  Thayer 
has  also  published  several  volumes,  the  best  known  of  which  are 
"Life  at  the  Fireside,"  "  The  Bobbin  Boy,"  "  The  Printer  Boy," 
"  The  Pioneer  Boj',"  "  The  Poor  Boy  and  Merchant  Prince," 
"Youth's  History  of  the  Rebellion,"  -4  vols.  More  than  200,000 
copies  of  these  have  been  sold. 

Mr.  Tha\-er  married  Miss  Rebecca  Richards  of  Dover,  and  has 
had  five  children,  two  of  whom  are  living.  Eugene  is  married  and 
lives  in  Denver.  Addison  is  at  present  at  home.  He  resides  in 
Franklin  and  is  engaged  in  authorship,  having  published  a  new 
work  since  our  Centennial. 

Rev.  Edwin  Thompson,  a  two-fold  son-in-law  of  Franklin,  was 


ADDENDA.  189 

son  of  William  D.  Thompson,  a  native  of  Marblehead.  and  bis 
wife  Eunice  Breed  T.,  of  Lynn.  He  was  born  in  Lj-nu.  23d  .Juh', 
1809.  His  parents  were  Friends,  and  he  was  educated  in  the 
Quaker  School  of  his  native  town,  and  became  afterwards,  lUce  all 
Lynnites,  a  shoemaker.  He  was  also  for  twelve  years  carrier  of 
the  first  Lynn  newspaper.  In  18.37,  at  the  suggestion  of  Wendell 
Phillips,  he  became  agent  for  Essex  county  of  the  anti-slavery 
cause.  In  1841  he  was  settled  as  pastor  of  the  Universalist  So- 
ciety in  South  Dedham  —  now  Norwood.  But  his  deep  interest 
in  temperance  as  well  as  anti-slavery  led  him  to  resign  his  charge 
after  three  years  and  devote  himself  wholly  to  these  more  conge- 
nial causes.  From  that  time  he  has  become  better  known  through- 
out the  State  as  a  temperance  advocate  than  almost  any  other 
man. 

In  1842  Mr.  Thompson  married  Roxa  M.,  widow  of  Joseph 
Morse,  of  East  Walpole.  She  died  in  1848,  and  he  married  Lou- 
isa Jane,  daughter  of  Maxcy  and  Persis  Fisher,  of  Franklin,  with 
whom  he  lived  twenty-two  years,  and  had  one  child,  a  sou.  After 
her  death,  in  1871,  he  married  her  sister,  Susan  M.  Fisher,  also  of 
Franklin  and  the  viidow  of  Dea.  Levi  I.  Morse,  of  FrankUu.  with 
whom  he  still  lives  in  Norwood. 

Rev.  JosEPHUS  Wheaton,  another  son-in-law  of  Franklin,  was 
Ijorn  in  Rehoboth,  16th  March,  1788,  and  was  the  son  of  Capt. 
Joseph  and  Sarah  S.  Wheaton.  He  graduated  B.  U.,  1812,  was 
tutor  for  two  years  following,  studying  theology-  meanwhile  under 
Rev.  Otis  Thompson,  of  Rehoboth.  He  was  settled  in  Holliston. 
6th  December,  1815,  but  died  of  consumption  4th  February,  1825, 
at  the  earl}'  age  of  37. 

Mr.  Wheaton  man-ied  Mary  Ide,  born  in  Franklin,  1st  October, 
1790.  and  only  daughter  of  Daniel  and  Sarah  Ide.  Her  father 
died  in  her  childhood,  and  her  mother  afterwards  married  Peter 
Hunt,  Esq.,  of  Seekonk,  where  Marj'  was  brought  up  and  met 
with  Mr.  "WTieaton.  But  her  wedded  life  lasted  onlj-  from  Janu- 
arj',  1816,  to  28th  July,  1817,  when  she  died  of  consumption,  leav- 
ing a  son  of  four  months.  Mr.  Wheaton's  second  wife,  Abbj' 
Fales,  became  afterwards  the  wife  of  Dea.  Benjamin  Shepard,  of 
Wrentham. 

Abijah  Whiting,  Esq.,  j'oungest  son  of  Jonathan  and  Eleonai 
(Thurston)    Whiting,  was   born  in   Franklin,  April,  1768.     He 


190  HISTORY   OF   FRANKLIN. 

graduated  at  Brown  University,  1790,  and  settled  in  the  profession 
of  law  in  Salem,  N.  J.,  where  he  was  rapidh*  gaining  a  distinc- 
tion when  he  was  arrested  in  his  career  by  death,  in  October,  1799. 

Nathan  Whiting,  Esq.,  was  born  in  Franklin,  April,  1774, 
and  was  the  son  of  Asa  and  Elizabeth  (Fisher)  Whiting.  lie 
also  graduated  at  Brown  University  in  1796,  in  the  class  with 
Judge  Asa  Aldis  and  Hon.  Trisstam  Burgess.  He  studied  law 
and  opened  an  office  in  East  Greenwich,  R.  I.  Of  his  further  his- 
toiy  we  liave  been  unable  to  learn. 

Rev.  Samuel  Whiting  was  among  the  earliest  graduates  of  this 
town.  He  was  a  son  of  Joseph  and  Maiy  Whiting,  one  of  the  fust 
settlers  of  the  precinct.  He  was  born  in  March,  1750,  graduated 
at  Harvard  in  17G9,  and  A.  M.  at  Yale,  1772.  Entering  the  minis- 
tiy  he  traveled  into  the  wilds  of  Vermont,  and  was  settled  in  Rock- 
ingham 27th  October,  1773,  when  the  town  contained  less  than 
three  hundred  inhabitants,  on  a  few  clearings  along  the  banks  of 
the  Connecticut,  with  salmon  and  shad  fisheries  at  Bellows  Falls. 
Here  Mr.  Whiting  established  and  continued  preaching  until  bs09, 
when  he  resigned  in  discouragement  and  was  dismissed  May  18th, 
the  church  being  almost  extinct.  He  lived  but  few  years  longer, 
dj-ing  16th  May,  1819,  in  his  70th year.  He  is  described  as  a  very 
faithful  and  conscientious  preacher  and  man,  but  the  poverty  of  a 
new  and  hardly  broken  territoiy  was  against  him. 

Rev.  Thdrston  Whiting,  son  of  Jonathan  and  Eleonai  (Thurs- 
ton") Whiting,  and  brother  of  Abijah,  alreadj' mentioned,  was  Itorn 
in  Franklin,  June,  1753.  He  is  not  known  to  have  graduated  at 
any  classical  college,  but  he  entered  the  ministry  and  was  settled 
in  Newcastle,  Me.,  July,  1S76,  a  church  being  organized  the 
same  day.  He  remained  here  until  January,  1782,  being  followed 
by  the  well  known  Rev.  Kiah  Bailej',  the  predecessor  of  the  still 
better  known  F.ather  Sewall.  Of  Mr.  Whiting's  further  work  and 
life,  our  inquiries  have  failed  to  bring  anything  to  light. 

Hon.  Marshall  Pinckney  Wilder.  Franklin  maj',  for  a  twice- 
repeated  reason,  cl.aim  this  distinguished  gentleman  among  her 
children,  and  he  has  manifested  the  interest  of  a  son  in  the  town's 
prosperity.  But  biographical  sketches  of  him  aresomanj'  and  ac- 
cessible that  we  need  give  only  the  briefest  notice.  The  fine 
engraving  opposite  speaks  for  him. 

Mr.  Wilder  was  born  22d  September,   1798,  in  Rindge,  N.  II., 


ADDENDA.  191 

and  is  the  eldest  sou  of  Samuel  Locke  and  Anna  (Sherwin)  Wil- 
der. Young  Wilder,  having  the  alternative  between  a  college,  a 
farm,  and  a  mercantile  life,  chose  the  farm,  and  on  it  acquired 
the  physical  energy  which  bears  his  80  years  now  so  bravely. 
From  the  farm  he  went  into  his  ftither's  store,  and  at  21  was 
taken  into  partnership,  and  was  also  appointed  postmaster.  Hav- 
ing a  militar}'  taste  he  organized  a  Light  Lifantry  C'ompanj" 
in  his  native  town,  and  at  26  he  became  Colonel.  In  1857  he 
commanded  the  Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery'  Company  of 
Boston.  In  February,  182,5,  he  removed  to  Boston  and  opened  a 
wholesale  "West  India  goods  store  on  Union  street,  under  the  firm 
of  Wilder  &  Payson,  afterwards  Wilder  &  Smith,  North  Market 
street.  He  is  now  senior  member  of  Parker.  Wilder  &  Co..  Win- 
throp  square,  the  oldest  commission  domestic  goods  house  in  Bos- 
ton. In  all  the  crises  of  over  fift\- years  he  has  never  failed  to  meet 
his  payments.  A  most  honorable  business  record,  and  deservedly 
successful. 

But  Mr.  Wilder's  original  taste  for  the  farm  has  clung  to  him, 
and  his  ample  means  have  enabled  him  to  become  a  leader  in  all 
branches  of  agriculture,  and  a  president  of  various  societies  for  its 
encouragement,  many  of  which  he  has  originated.  In  political 
life  he  has  ascended  to  the  Presidency'  of  the  State  Senate,  and  to 
a  Councillorship.  He  has  also  been  President  of  the  New  England 
Historical  Genealogical  Societj'  for  the  past  ten  years.  And  he 
has  filled  all  these  trusts  well. 

Mr.  Wilder  has  had  three  wives.  He  married,  .31st  December, 
1820,  Trji^hosa,  daughter  of  Stephen  Jewett  of  Riudge.  She 
died  on  a  visit  home,  31st  July,  1831,  leaving  four  children.  Of 
his  second  and  third  wives  we  beg  leave  to  insert  from  his  own 
repl}'  to  our  inquiries  :  — 

The  relations  which  have  existed  between  j'our  town  and  myself 
were  brought  about  by  my  marriages  with  the  family  of  Capt. 
Dand  Baker,  from  which  I  have  been  blessed  with  two  loving 
wives. 

Abigail  Baker  was  married  to  Marshall  Pinckney  AVilder  29th 
August,  1833.  She  was  a  lady  of  intelligence,  culture,  and  piety, 
eminently  fitted  to  make  a  family  happy.  She  became  the  mother 
of  sis  children,  three  of  whom  —  Abbie  Trvphosa.  Sarah  .Jane, 
and  Samuel  Locke  are  now  dead.  Three  still  live  —  William  Henry, 
Jemima  Richardson,  and  (4race  Sherwin.  INIrs.  Wilder  died  of 
consumption  at  Aiken,  S.  C,  4th  April,  1854. 


192  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

Julia  Baker,  mj  third  wife,  was  married  to  me  8tli  September, 
1855,  and  here  I  must  be  permitted  to  record  my  appreciation  of 
her  estimalile  character  as  a  lady  of  culture  and  piety,  admirablj' 
Cjualitied  botli  as  a  wife  and  a  mother  to  preside  over  and  grace 
our  family  circle.  She  has  two  sons  —  Edward  Baker  and  Mar- 
shall rincknej'. 

Nor  can  I  close  this  record  withont  an  expression  of  the  grati- 
tude and  veneration  I  retain  for  the  memory  and  virtues  of  the 
good  and  godly  parents  of  these  daughters,  who  have  contributed 
so  much  to  the  happiness  of  my  life. 

Charles  Winslow.  who  married  Harriet  Newell  Richardson  of 
Franklin,  and  daughter  of  Eli  M.  and  Mehta  (Norcross)  Richard- 
son, "27th  May,  1839,  was  a  native  of  Barre.  He  studied  at  Hop- 
kins' Academy,  Hadley,  and  two  j-ears  in  the  Franklin  Academy. 
He  entered  Amherst  College  in  1836,  but  left  during  the  year  for 
Oberlin.  Thence  he  engaged  in  school  teaching  in  "West  Virginia 
and  other  places.  He  died  in  1843,  leaving  one  child.  His  widow 
married  Rev.  Edward  F.  Dickinson  of  Amherst,  and  now  citj' 
missionarj'  in  Chicago,  where  she  still  resides. 

It  is  not  out  of  place  here  to  add  to  these  105  brief  sketches  the 
names  of  professional  gentlemen  not  elsewhere  mentioned  who 
have  become  residents  and  have  added  their  services  to  the  value 
of  the  town.  The  settled  ministers  have  been  given  in  the 
sketches  of  the  churches.  The  transient  preacher's  record  is 
written  in  his  work.  Of  law3-ers,  the  town  has  n^ver  required  a 
permanent  resident.  But  its  recent  rapid  growth  and  widely 
spreading  business  has  encouraged  George  W.  Wiggin,  Esq.,  to 
establish  his  office  in  town.  His  quiet  affability  and  studious  de- 
votion to  the  interests  of  our  citizens  have  won  for  him  a  birth- 
right among  us. 

Most  of  the  early  physicians  in  town  have  their  proper  place  in 
the  roll  of  sons  already  given.     To  them  should  be  added :  — 

Dr.  Spencer  Pratt,  a  native  of  Mansfield,  came  from  Foxboro 
to  Franklin  about  1800,  married,  23d  November,  1801,  Elizabeth 
Wood,  and  settled  on  the  west  side  of  the  Common.  He  was  of 
impulsive  temperament,  but  quite  a  scholar  and  very  helpful  to 
youth  of  studious  tastes.  In  the  latter  part  of  his  hfe  he  removed 
to  Woonsocket,  R.  I.,  and  died  there.  His  two  sons  are  included 
in  this  chapter.  He  had  one  daughter  who  married  and  lives  in 
Woonsocket. 


ADDENDA.  193 

Dr.  Amory  Huxtixg  came  into  town  abont  1820,  we  think  from 
Hopkinton,  where  his  wife  belonged.  He  opened  an  office,  first  at 
the  house  of  Joel  Daniels,  where  he  endured  a  long  and  dangerous 
sickness  ;  but  he  afterwards  removed  to  the  Center  and  built  and 
occupied  the  house  now  Dr.  King's.  Soon  after  the  settlement  of 
Kansas  he  removed  to  Manhattan,  in  that  territory,  where  he  lately 
■died. 

Dr.  JoxATHAN  Manx  followed  Dr.  E.  D.  Miller  on  his  removal 
to  Dorchester.  He  was  a  native  of  Randolph  and  a  member  of 
Amherst  College  for  two  j'ears.  He  remained  but  a  few  j-ears 
and  removed  to  Boston. 

Dr.  Selim  Staxley  of  Attleboro  followed,  but  his  health  com- 
pelled him  to  give  up  his  profession,  and  not  long  after  his  life. 

Dr.  L.  L.  ScHAMMEL  next  occupied  this  ofHce,  but  he  also  re- 
moved elsewhere  after  a  brief  staj-. 

Dr.  SnADEACH  Atwood  came  in  1844.  He  received  the  degree 
of  ]M.  D.  at  Harvard  Universitj-  in  1830,  and,  with  the  exception 
of  one  or  two  absences  from  town,  has  continued  in  practice  here 
until  the  present  time. 

Dr.  AV.  B.  NoLAX  began  practice  here  in  1855  and  has  still  a 
wide  circle  of  patrons. 

Dr.  George  King  came  in  1857,  and,  excepting  the  time  of  his 
absence  as  surgeon  in  the  Union  army,  has  been  and  is  busied 
with  an  extensive  practice. 

Dr.  McGregor  is  the  latest  comer  into  the  companj-  of  our 
physicians,  and  is  already  reported  as  successful  in  his  profession. 

Homeopathy  has  been  represented  b}-  several  practitioners,  but 
their  stay  has  been  short.  Dr.  J.  Blake,  from  Wrentham,  has 
now  an  office,  and  as  a  physician  of  several  years'  experience  has 
■an  increasing  patronage.  Others  and  of  other  schools  maj'  have 
practiced  in  town,  but  their  names  have  not  reached  us. 

It  is  but  justice  to  add  that  the  previous  list  by  no  means  in- 
cludes all  the  persons  who  have  .idded  to  the  respectability  of  the 
town.  Sucli  a  list  would  be  both  long  and  im-iclious,  and  the 
author  declines  the  task  of  selecting  amongst  the  worthy  men  and 
women,  when  there  have  been  so  man}-  whose  memories  are  still 
green  with  the  mantling  of  their  fruitful  lives.  He  remembers 
well  the  impression  upon  his  3-outhful  mind,  that  no  town  could 
furnish  so  large  a  number  of  grave  and  reverend  men  and  "  de- 

13 


194  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

vout  women  not  a  few,"  as  gathered  in  the  Franklin  Sundaj'  con- 
gregation, or  of  men  so  logical  and  spicy  in  debate  as  met  for 
business  in  its  town  meetings.  The  very  atmosphere  was  charged 
with  an  intellectual  sharpness  which  quickened  every  intellect  and 
compelled  reasons  for  every  conclusion.  But  all  this  cannot  be 
translated  in  print,  much  as  we  would  like  to  preserve  it.  Some 
genius  may  reproduce  the  social  life  in  Franklin  of  Dr.  Emmons' 
day  —  there  are  characters  enough  to  equip  a  large  volume  —  but 
he  must  l)e  in  a  closer  sjTnpath}'  with  its  spirit  than  some  who 
have  attempted  it,  or  his  book  will  be  a  travesty. 

A  view  of  the  private  hospital  of  Dr.  N.  Miller  is  given  on 
preceding  page.  It  was  quite  a  celebrated  institution  iu  the  day 
before  public  hospitals  had  beeu  founded,  and  had  a  very  wide 
patronage.  It  was  situated  at  Eiver  Eud,  and  was  burnt  not 
manv  months  ago. 


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THE    CENTENNIAL   DAY 


CELEBRATION,    JUXE   12,    1S78. 


In  the  warrant  for  the  annual  meeting  of  the  town  5th  March, 
1873,  was  this  article  :  — 

Art.  2G.  To  see  if  the  town  will  take  any  action  with  regard 
to  the  One  Hundredth  Anniversary  of  its  Incorporation,  and  make 
suitable  provision  for  celebrating"  the  occasion  liy  the  choice  of  a 
committee  to  take  the  whole  subject  into  consideration,  and  report 
their  doings  at  a  future  town  meeting,  or  act  or  do  anything  in 
relation  to  the  subject. 

On  this  article  it  was  voted  :  — • 

That  a  committee  of  five  be  appointed  by  the  town  with  full 
powers  to  consider  the  whole  subject,  to  prepare  a  plan  for  an  ap- 
propriate celebration  of  the  anniversary  referred  to  in  this  article, 
to  secure  statistics  and  do  whatever  they  may  deem  necessary  in 
the  matter,  and  report  to  the  town  at  a  future  town  meeting,  and 
that  the  following-named  gentlemen  shall  constitute  said  commit- 
tee, viz. :  Stephen  W.  Richardson,  Escj.,  Rev.  William  M. 
Thayer,  Waldo  Daniels,  William  Kockvtood,  Joseph  A. 
Woodward. 

Mr.  Woodward  subsequently  resigned  and  Adin  D.  S^vegent 
was  chosen  in  his  place.  The  portraits  of  these  gentlemen  are 
given  at  the  opening  of  this  chapter. 

The  committee  soon  after  organized  by  the  choice  of  Waldo 
Daniels  as  Chairman,  and  William  Rockwood  Secretary.  They 
also  agreed  to  recommend  a  public  celebration  with  a  historical 
address,  a  dinner,  and  other  suitalile  exercises,  and  requested  Rev. 
Mortimer  Blake.  D.  D.,  of  Taunton,  a  son  of  Franklin,  to  prepare 
the  address.  This  report  was  presented  and  accepted  by  the  town. 
The  committee  at  another  meeting  divided  the  collection  of  histor- 


196  HISTORY   OP   FRANKLIN. 

ical  statistics  among  themselves  aud  proceeded  in  their  arduous 
work. 

At  the  annual  town  meeting.  March  5,  1877,  it  was  "  voted, 
that  the  sum  of  S500  be  granted  bj-  the  town  for  the  expenses 
connected  with  the  centennial  celebration  and  the  publication  of  a 
history  of  the  town,  subject  to  the  order  of  the  committee." 

At  the  annual  meeting,  March  4,  1878,  the  following  gentlemen 
were  added  to  the  Centennial  Committee  as  a  general  Committee 
of  Arrangements  for  the  celebration,  "viz. :  Eev.  A.  St.  John 
Chambre,  D.  D.,  Henry  M.  Greene,  James  P.  Ray,  Paul  B. 
Clark,  and  Rev.  E.  A.  Rand.  The  portraits  of  this  added  com- 
mittee are  given  at  the  head  of  this  chapter. 

This  general  committee  immediatelj'  proceeded  to  discuss  and 
fix  upon  the  final  arrangements.  Thej'  elected  the  following  ladies 
to  act  with  them  :  Mrs.  PI  E.  B.uiER,  Mrs.  W.  C.  Whiting,  Mrs. 
A.  G.  Metcalf,  Mrs.  A.  A.  Fletcher,  and  Mrs.  W.  H.  Fisher, 
to  whom  was  specially  committed  the  gathering  and  whole  charge 
of  a  museum  of  antique  articles  illustrative  of  the  histor}'  of  the 
town.  That  they  were  earnest  and  successful  bej'ond  expectation 
an  appended  list  of  their  collection  will  show.  Other  necessary 
sub-committees  were  appointed ;  Capt.  Lewis  R.  Whitaker  was 
chosen  as  Marshal,  and  enthusiasm  in  the  approaching  festival 
rapidly  spread  through  the  community  as  the  day  drew  near. 

The  Centennial  Anniversary  came  literally  on  IMareh  2ud,  but 
the  usual  iuclemencj^  of  that  season  and  the  necessity  of  an  out-of- 
door  collation  demanded  a  sunnier  time.  The  committee,  therefore, 
selected  June  12th  as  most  promising  the  conditions  favorable  to 
a  successful  celebration.  The  day  proved,  excepting  a  sudden 
shower  in  the  afternoon,  all  that  could  be  desired. 

The  Franklin  Register,  whose  editor  and  proprietor,  J.  M.  Stewart, 
had  given  his  columns  to  a  hearty  sympathy  with  the  occasion, 
gave  a  full  and  graphic  description  of  the  exercises,  from  which  we 
extract  the  following  sentences  :  — 

At  6  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  12th  of  June,  1878,  the 
jubilant  bells  and  the  crashing  and  growling  voices  of  the  cannon 
announced  that  the  ceremonies  of  the  day  were  about  to  commence. 
The  earliest  riser  looked  out  upon  the  streets  fiiirly  glorious  with 
flags  and  eveiy  species  of  elegant  decoration  which  could  be  de- 
vised, or  the  "night  hours  permitted  to  be  accomplished.  Main 
street  was  almost  canopied  with  the  red,  white  and  blue  bunting. 


ADDENDA.  197 

stretchiug  across  from  tree  to  tree,  or  from  house-top  to  house-top. 
But  far  the  most  glorious  of  all  were  the  deeoratious  of  some  of 
the  houses  and  blocks.  At  a  very  early  hour  the  streets  began  to 
show  throng's  of  people,  and  the  arrivals  from  the  cities  and  neigh- 
boring towns  rapidly  swelled  the  crowds  until  it  was  estimated  that 
10.000,  and  perhaps  more,  people  were  abroad  to  celebrate  the 
gr.and  occasion.  At  10  o'clock  came  the  Governor  of  the  State 
and  his  statf,  Lieutenaut-Goveruor,  Secretarj-  of  State,  and  the 
Execu'ive  Council,  Hon.  M.  P.  Wilder,  Manager  Clark  and  other 
officials  of  the  New  York  and  New  England  Railroad,  and  other 
distinguished  guests. 

PROCESSION. 

A  procession  was  forthwith  organized  under  Marshal  Whitaker 
and  his  Aids,  and  passed  through  the  principal  streets  in  the  fol- 
lowing order :  — 

Squadron  of  cavalry  in  ancient  costume,  D.  Carson,  Captain. 

Chief  Marshal  Whitaker  and  Aids. 

Ancient  military  fife  and  drum  corps,  G.  I.  Partridge,  Leader. 

Woonsocket  Cornet  Band. 

J.  C.  Ray  Engine  Company,  in  new  uniforms. 

Barouches,  with  Committee  of  Arrangements,  President,  Orator,  and  Chaplain  of 

the  day.  Governor  and  suite,  and  invited  guests. 

Assistant  Marshal  Peck  and  Aids. 

West  Medway  Mechanics  Band. 

Grand  Army,  Post  No.  TO. 

Children  of  the  Public  Schools,  under  L.  I.  Blake,  Principal  High  School. 

Ancient  Order  of  Hibernians,  Franklin  and  Milford  branches. 

TR.\DES  PUOCESSION. 

(The  leading  representatives  only  are  mentioned.) 

E.  Trowbridge,  two  teams  of  musical  merchandise,  and  two  business  carriages. 

F.  B.  Ray.  display  of  felt  goods. 

F.  W.  Smith,  carpenters  working  at  benches. 

C.  L.  Pales  &  Co.,  groceries. 

F.  A.  B.  King,  carpcntei-s  at  work. 

J.  M.  Stewart,  compositor  setting  types  for  Franklin  Register. 

C.  F.  Carter  &  Sou,  dry  goods. 

Farmer,  Sherman  &  Co. .  cases  of  straw  goods. 

C.  L.  Stewart,  printing  press  at  work. 

F.  Rogers,  blacksmiths  at  work  with  bellows  and  anWl. 

J.  W.  Clark,  machine  running  by  belts  attached  to  carrLige  wheel. 

M.  C.  Darling,  butcher. 

J  .  M.  Whiting,  hnnber. 

J.  O.  Chilson,  butcher,  two  teams. 

J.  McFarland,  men  making  harnesses. 

C.  B.  Craig,  boots  and  shoes. 

G.  H.  Butterworth.  clothing. 

A.  McConkey,  tailors  at  work. 

Bier  .1'  Harris,  clothiers. 

R.  B.  Stewart,  wheelwright. 

G.  0.  Fuller,  furniture. 

Franklin  Felting  Mills,  full  display  of  feltings. 


198  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

E.  Waite,  large  exhibit  of  felts  in  contrasted  colors. 
City  Mills,  felt  goods. 
H.  R.  Jenks,  grocer,  two  teams. 
Hosic  &  Mann,  coal,  two  teams. 
M.  M.  Daniels,  milk  team. 
A,  Clark,  ice  cart. 
S.  Hubbard,  carpenter. 
J.  P.  Ray,  ten  yokes  of  o.xen  from  his  farm. 
J.  Hood,  men  at  the  forge  and  shoeing  a  horse  [begun  and  finished  diu'iug  the  ride)  ^ 
C.  Haggerty,  harness  shop. 
Heaton  &  Stebbins,  men  dressing  a  granite  doorstep. 
Mrs.  W.  Bullock,  girls  at  work  on  millinery. 
S.  W.  Thayer,  boots  and  shoes,  and  a  boot  for  the  biggest  foot  at  the  next 
Centennial. 
J.  P.  &  J.  G.  Hay,  four  team?  with  the  various  goods  of  their  mills,  also  milk  team. 
I.  P.  Ray,  a  wagon  of  old  furniture,  with  an  old  family,  and  girl  at  the  spinning- 
wheel. 

In  the  processioii  was  represented  1778  bj'  two  gentlemen  and 
two  ladies,  mounted  on  side-saddles  and  pillion,  and  dressed  in 
"  3-6  ancient  costume." 

This  long  cavalcade  passed  in  review  before  the  Governor  and 
the  town's  guests  in  front  of  the  Congregational  church,  where  the 
literary  exercises  were  to  be  held,  and  then  the  latter  entered  the 
Congregational  church. 

The  house  was  appropriately  and  tastefuUj' decorated  within  and 
without  with  flags,  mottoes,  and  flowers,  under  the  superintend- 
ence of  the  ladies'  committee  —  Mrs.  C.  Claflin,  Mrs.  St.  J. 
Chambre,  Mrs.  W.  Gilmore,  and  Miss  Hattie  Daniels.  It  is  need- 
less to  saj'  that  the  house  was  completely  filled. 

ORDER   OF    EXERCISES. 

After  an  organ  voluntary  and  the  singing  of  "the  Pilgrim 
Fathers"  b_y  the  choir,  under  the  leadership  of  Mr.  Edwin  Trow- 
bridge, and  reading  the  Scriptures  and  prayer  by  Rev.  W.  M. 
Thayer,  chaplain  of  the  day,  the  following  centennial  hymn  by 
Rev.  Mr.  Thayer  was  sung  :  — 

Great  God !  before  wliose  throne  of  power 
We  bow  in  this  memorial  hour; 
From  heights  vmkuown  Tliy  gracious  hand 
Sifts  years  as  golden  grains  of  sand. 

The  cluldren  live  —  the  fathers  sleep; 
The  fathers  sowed  —  the  children  reap; 
A  harvest  waves,  and  sheaves  of  gold 
We  garner  from  these  fields  of  old. 


ADDENDA.  199 

Not  one  is  here  of  all  the  men 
Who  "bore  the  heat  and  bnrdeu'"  then; 
New  scenes  inspire;  new  people  meet: 
Xew  faces  smile :  new  voices  greet. 

Though  century  in  Thy  life  is  small, 
Great  God!  Thy  goodness  crowns  it  all; 
Thy  glory  in  this  span  appears; 
We  praise  Thee  for  a  Hundred  Teaks. 

The  President  of  the  day,  Ilenrj'  M.  Greene,  Esq.,  then  wel- 
comed the  assembly  in  the  following  words  :  — 

Friends  axd  Fellow  Citizexs  :  By  acceding  to  the  request 
of  the  committee  h.aving  the  proceedings  of  the  day  in  charge,  it 
becomes  my  pleasant  duty  to  address  you  with  words  of  welcome. 
Before  doing  so,  please  allow  me  to  indulge  in  a  few  preliminary 
remarks. 

AVe  are  assembled  at  this  time  to  celebrate  the  one-hundredth 
return  of  the  day  when  the  Great  and  General  Court  of  Massachu- 
setts (recently  His  Majesty's  Province  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay) 
endowed  the  West  Precinct  of  AVrentham  with  the  privileges  and 
immunities  of  a  town,  and  was  pleased  to  bestow  upon  it  the  hon- 
ored name  of  Franklin.  It  will  be  rememliered  that  our  munici- 
pal birthday  occurred  during  the  stormy  days  of  the  Revolution, 
when  the  struggle  for  independence  hung  trembling  in  the  balance. 
Through  the  abiding  foith  of  our  patriotic  ancestors  in  the  justness 
of  their  cause,  and  their  unyielding  persistence  in  its  defense,  bet- 
ter councils  prevailed  in  the  mother  country,  and  the  United  States 
became  one  of  the  family  of  nations. 

During  the  first  century  of  our  corporate  life  —  the  century  now 
closed  —  what  wonderful  changes  have  occurred  in  our  country. 
We  have  passed, through  another  war  with  Great  Britain,  and  also 
that  other  war  which  was  proclaimed  to  "exist  by  the  act  of 
Mexico."  We  have  come  out  unscathed  in  our  national  life  from 
the  perils  of  a  gigantic  rebellion,  that  has  no  parallel  to  its  pro- 
portions in  the  history  of  the  world.  In  population  we  have  in- 
creased from  3,000.()00  to  40.000.000  of  people.  It  is  well,  too.  to 
bear  in  mind  the  wonderful  and  beneficent  advance  that  has  been 
m.ade  during  this  period  in  the  interests  of  civilization  and  peace  ; 
the  steamboat  of  Fulton,  without  which  the  mighty  current  of  the 
Mississippi  could  never  have  been  stemmed,  nor  a  passage  made 
between  Boston  and  Liverpool  in  seven  daj's  instead  of  forty  ;  the 
railroad,  while  furnishing  unlimited  aid  to  commerce,  assures  the 
unity  and  permanence  of  the  Republic  through  all  time  to  come 
by  its  omnipresent  and  irrefragable  network  of  steel  and  iron  ; 
the  telegraph,  annihilating  both  time  and  distance,  furnishing  the 
news  of  yesterday  in  advance  to  the  morning  papers  from  the 


200  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  ;  the  telephone,  now  in  the  infanc}'  of 
its  invention,  in  its  perfection  it  may  surpass  the  telegraith  ;  the 
phonograph,  registering  and  preserving  the  spoken  words,  with  all 
their  iniinite  variety  of  tone  and  expression,  to  reproduce  them  at 
will  at  an^'  time  in  the  future  —  a  hundred  or  even  a  thousand  years 
hence. 

But  while  we  recount  the  wonderful  changes  which  have  been  so 
beneficial  to  our  nation  and  the  world  at  large,  we  do  not  forget 
the  changes  that  have  occurred  within  our  own  particular  borders. 
There  was  a  time  when  the  iSuudaj'  woi-shipers  could  be  comfort- 
ably seated  in  one  church.  Now,  within  view  from  the  mansion 
of  its  late  reverend  and  Christian  minister.  Dr.  Emmons,  five 
spires  point  their  way  heavenward.  The  noon-house,  with  its  hole 
in  the  roof  for  the  exit  of  gas  and  smoke  and  its  capacious  brick 
hearth  in  the  center  for  charcoal,  has  given  way  for  the  more  com- 
fortable stove  or  furnace  in  the  church.  It  was  not  till  the  earl3- 
part  of  the  last  century  that  '•  the  deacon's  one-horse  shay"  made 
its  appearance.  Before  that  time  our  grandmothers  went  to  meet- 
ing and  to  the  store  and  even  made  more  lengthy  journeys  on 
hoi'seback,  seated  upon  pilhons  liehind  their  husbands.  The  iron 
plow  has  fought  its  way  to  puldic  favor,  in  sjiite  of  the  opposition 
of  the  farmers  of  the  last  generation.  The  jennv  has  banished 
our  grandmother's  spinning-wheels  to  the  garret,  whore  they  are 
now  preserved  as  the  curious  relics  of  a  liy-gone  age.  Instead  of 
consuming  two  or  more  daj-s  in  going  to  Boston  or  Providence,  we 
take  the  railroad  to  either  citj'  in  the  morning,  transact  our  busi- 
ness, and  get  home  before  sunset. 

Fearing  that  I  am  wearying  your  patience  and  that  peradven- 
ture  I  may  have  intruded  upon  the  field,  if  not  upon  the  allotted 
time  of  the  orator  of  the  day,  I  will  not  detain  j^ou  longer  from  the 
intellectual  repast  which  has  mainly  induced  j'our  attendance  upon 
this  centennial  of  the  incorporation  of  our  goodly  town. 

It  onl>-  remains  for  me  to  say  that  by  direction  of  the  Committee 
of  Arrangements  (and  it  is  with  great  pleasure  that  I  obej-  their 
injunction.)  I  hereby  tender  to  j'ou  all — to  our  honored  guest, 
His  Excellency  Governor  Eice,  to  Lieutenant-Governor  Knight, 
and  the  other  members  of  our  State  government,  now  present  — 
to  you  our  friends  who  have  come  from  your  distant  homes  to 
spend  with  us,  we  trust,  a  happy  day  — •  to  our  townsmen  and  neigh- 
bors all  —  a  cordial  and  affectionate  welcome  to  the  amenities  and 
festivities  of  the  present  occasion. 

The  original  act  of  the  incorporation  of  the  town  was  then  read 
b^'  the  .Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth,  Hon.  H.  B.  Pierce,  after 
which  "ye  antient  choir"  in  the  gallery  as  of  old  sang  "  Majesty '^ 
under  the  lead  of  Mr.  Frank  Ware  and  accompanied  onl_y  by 
"  stringed  instruments." 


ADDENDA.  201 

The  oration  by  Rov.  Mortimer  Blake,  p.  D..  occupied  an  lionr 
and  tweutj'  miuutes.     It  is  printed  in  full  elsewhere. 

At  the  close  of  his  address  the  orator  read  the  XLI^'th  Psalm 
from  au  original  copy  of  President  Dunster's  version  of  the  Old 
Bay  Psalm  book,  1650,  and  Mr.  Ware  '"pitched  the  tune"  of 
York  npou  the  veritable  pitch-pipe  used  by  Dea.  John  Whiting, 
the  first  chosen  chorister  of  the  church.  The  people  sang  three 
verses  in  unison  after  the  old  way,  and  the  choir  and  organ  joined 
with  all  the  parts  in  the  last  stanza  — 

We,  with  our  ears  li.ave  heard,  O  God, 

Our  fathers  have  us  told, 
What  works  Thou  wroughtest  hi  then'  days, 

Ev'n  hi  ye  days  of  old. 

How  Thy  hand  drave  ye  heathen  out, 

Displanted  them  Thou  hast; 
How  Thou  ye  people  did'st  afflict, 

And  out  them  Thou  did'st  cast. 

For  by  their  sword  they  did  not  get 

The  laud's  possession, 
Xor  was  it  their  own  arm  that  did 

Work  their  salvation. 

But  Thy  right  hand,  Thine  arm  also. 

Thy  countenance  of  light ; 
Because  that  of  Thine  own  good  will 

Thou  did'st  in  them  delight. 

The  singing  of  '•  America"  and  the  benediction  by  the  chaplain 
closed  the  exercises  in  the  church. 

The  procession  was  again  formed  of  those  who  held  tickets  to 
the  dinner,  and  marched  to  a  large  pavilion  on  Emmons'  Park, 
or  the  ancient  Common,  where  plates  had  been  placed  for  1,'200 
guests.  It  was  not  long  before  every  seat  was  occupied,  and  a 
vigorous  dental  activity  prevailed  for  half  au  hour. 

It  is  not  possible  to  report  all  the  good  things  said  at  the  table. 
The  programme  of  speeches  intended  could  not  be  fully  carried 
out  for  want  of  time,  even  if  a  sudden  shower  had  not  delaj'ed  the 
exercises.  But  judges  of  wide  experience  declared  that  they  had 
never  heard  a  richer  flow  of  wit  and  wisdom.  We  are  again  in- 
debted to  the  indefatigable  Mr.  Stewart  of  the  Franklin  Eeijister 
for  such  reports  as  are  here  given. 


202  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIX. 

The  President  of  the  day  welcomed  the  company  as  follows  :  — 

Ladies  and  Gextlejiex  :  The  limited  time  remaining  warns 
me  that  I  must  be  very  brief  in  my  iutrodnctory  remarks.  I  will 
ofler  only  one  thought  regarding  the  day  we  celebrate. 

Prominent  above  all  others  stands  the  sentiment  that  this  cele- 
bration is  in  honor  of  those  men  who,  under  Divine  guidance,  by 
labors  and  sacrifices,  laid  deep  the  foundation  of  all  our  blessings. 
Let  us  hope  that  the  record  of  the  century  upon  which  we  have 
entered  may  show  as  clearly  to  those  who  shall  participate  in  the 
centennial  celebrations  of  the  future  that  we  are  not  un\vorth\- 
descendants  of  the  men  we  honor  to-day. 

It  is  my  pleasant  privilege  to  again  tender  to  all  in  behalf  of  the 
town  and  of  the  Committee  of  Arrangements,  a  sincere  and  heart- 
felt welcome  to  the  remaining  festivities  of  the  occasion,  and  to 
introduce  Waldo  Daniels.  Esq.,  as  Toast-master,  who  will  read 
the  tii-st  regular  toast. 

Mr.  Daniels  then  read  :  — 

1.      The  Communwealth  of  Massachusetts. 

Mr.  Green  proceeded  :  — 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  Franklin  is  honored  to-day  bj' the 
presence  of  the  Governor  of  our  State,  oue  of  a  long  line  of  illus- 
trious men  who  have  so  ably  filled  the  Executive  office,  and  of 
whom  Massachusetts  is  so  justly-  proud.  I  am  highly  honored  with 
this  opportunitj'  of  presenting  to  you  His  Excellencj',  Gov.  Alex- 
ander H.  Eice. 

Upon  the  subsidence  of  the  applause,  Governor  Eice  arose,  and 
after  complimenting  "in  high  terms  the  cordial  reception  and  the 
whole  arrangements  and  exercises  of  the  celebration,  proceeded 
substantially  to  say  :  — 

As  I  looked  out  into  the  faces  of  the  congregation  in  the  church 
this  morning,  it  was  about  the  most  interesting  spectacle  that  I 
liave  seen.  I  said  to  myself,  now  this  is  a  characteristic  New 
England  assembly.  In  the  cities  we  gather  of  all  sorts  and  con- 
ditions and  uatioiuilities.  but  when  I  came  into  your  audience  this 
morning  and  looked  around.  I  saw  that  unmistakable  type  of  gen- 
uine New  England  citizenship  with  which  I  would  be  wilhng  with- 
out any  guarantee  to  trust  the  most  sacred  things.  We  see  here 
something  of  the  value  of  what  was  done  for  us  b.y  our  fathers  a 
century  or  two  ago.  We  cannot  look  around  upon  this  New 
England  civilization  and  suppose  that  it  is  in  any  sense  or  degree 
an  accident,  or  that  it  is  something  that  has  happened  or  may  be 
done  over  again  in  a  short  space  of  time. 

The  civilization  of  New  England  to-dav  is  a  growth,  and  a  growth 


ADDENDA.  203 

from  those  principles  tliat  were  planted  when  civil  society  was 
organized  here.  Whoever  seeks  for  the  secret  of  what  New  Eng- 
land is  to-day  must  go  back  to  those  days  which  you.  men  and 
women,  and  we  who  have  the  honor  and  privilege  of  being  with 
you  to-day,  are  celebrating.  I  saw  in  your  village  what  is  the 
natural  outcome  of  this  civilization.  I  saw  those  pleasant  homes 
varying  in  size,  but  unvarying  in  the  evidences  of  comfort.  I  ob- 
served your  well-kept  streets,  your  well-painted  houses —  all  sig- 
nificant of  the  ease  and  comfort  which  characterizes  an  intelligent 
and  virtuous  community.  I  saw.  also,  your  school-houses  ;  I  saw 
that  noble  institution  of  learning  which  is  an  eternal  and  enduring 
monument  of  the  liberality  and  foresight  of  one  of  your  citizens. 

I  saw  the  spires  of  your  churches,  showing  that  you  are  con- 
vinced of  the  fact  that  it  is  not  sufficient  to  train  the  intellect  alone, 
but  that  the  heart  also  must  be  trained,  so  that  the  two  may  go  to- 
gether. I  congratulate  you  on  all  these  pleasing  things,  \»vit  I  beg 
■of  3'ou  to  hold  fast  to  the  principles  which  they  all  repre  sent  and 
without  which  they  must  fall  —  without  which  tbej'  cannot  exist. 
I  beg  to  remind  you  of  what  the  orator  of  the  day  said  w  hen  he 
gave  us  that  rapid  and  lirief  glance  over  the  past,  of  the  changes 
that  have  taken  place  in  the  last  hundred  years —  not  only  in  in- 
stitutions, but  in  the  state  of  the  arts,  of  learning,  of  scientific  dis- 
covery, and  in  the  phase  of  the  world. 

Although  in  many  senses  these  changes  are  progress,  yet  let  me 
remind  you  that  they  render  our  lives  more  and  more  likely  to  be 
absorbed  in  the  common  incidents  of  our  daily  life,  so  that  we  are 
withdrawn  from  the  contemplation  of  nature  and  of  those  principles 
which  are  akin  to  nature,  the  influence  of  which  is  to  elevate  our 
manhood,  ennoble  our  natures  and  make  us  braver,  more  aspiring, 
and  worthy  people.  We  must,  therefore,  resist  the  influences  of 
these  new-discovered  elements  of  progress.  AYe  must  adapt  our 
education  to  them,  make  it  more  and  more  thorough,  and  our  re- 
ligion more  and  more  a  thing  of  practical  life. 

You  will  understand  me.  of  course,  that  in  speaking  of  religion 
I  am  not  speaking  of  theology  —  there  is  a  great,  a  wide  difference 
between  them.  ]Men  difter  in  their  theologj'  as  widely  as  the  lati- 
tudes of  opinion,  but  men  alwa_ys  and  everywhere  agree  in  the  true 
spirit  of  religion.  Whatever  warms  the  heart,  whatever  teaches 
men  and  women  to  love  that  which  is  good,  that  which  is  pure,  that 
which  is  noble,  and  of  good  report — to  love  their  neighbors  as 
themselves  and.  al)ove  all,  to  love  and  worship  God  as  the  first 
duty  of  life  —  that  is  the  religion  which  all  can  adopt,  and  which, 
when  adopted,  will  elevate  the  society-  in  which  it  prevails. 

Therefore,  wherever  we  plant  our  churches  and  our  school- 
houses,  we  must  remember  that  they  are  twin  sisters  who  ought 
never  to  be  separated ;  but  they  are  only  external  symbols  of  the 
two  parts  of  our  nature  which  must  be  educated,  and  educated 


204  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

symmetriciiUy,  in  ordor  to  bring  out  that  type  of  noble  and  illus- 
trious manhood  which  it  was  the  aspiration  of  our  fathers  and  is 
the  mission  of  New  England  to  propagate  and  develop  to  the  end 
of  time. 

AVith  renewed  thanks  for  his  cordial  reception.  His  Excellencj- 
closed  with  the  warmest  applause. 

2.  Our  Muther  Town — Wrenilmm.  Franklin,  her  first-born, 
forgets  not  what  she  owes  her  parent,  and  on  this  anniversary  of 
her  birth  gratefully-  acknowledges  her  ol) ligation. 

Samuel  Warner,  Esq.,  Town  Clerk  of  Wrentham,  responded  :  — 

The  little  west  precinct  of  Wrentham,  which  first  saw  the  light 
141  years  ago  when  Robert  Pond  and  fortj'-six  others  petitioned 
the  Great  and  General  Court  that  thej-  be  set  off  as  a  separate 
township  ;  because  they  had,  as  they  said,  '•  conflicted  with  great 
hardships  and  ditHenlties  with  respect  to  their  attendance  on  the 
public  worship  of  God,  by  reason  of  the  extraordinary  distance  of 
their  habitations  from  the  meeting-house  in  Wrentham ;"  that 
little  precinct  of  some  fort}'  families  is  to-day  an  enterprising, 
busy,  thriving  community  of  some  three  thousand  people,  whose 
first  century  as  a  township  this  year  completes. 

In  answer  to  this  petition,  the  Committee  of  the  General  Court 
suggested  a  parish.  The  old  town  readily  voted  that,  with  the 
boundaries  which,  with  little  change,  if  any,  were  adopted  forty- 
one  years  afterward,  when  the  town  was  incorporated,  and  which, 
I  think,  remain  the  same  to-day.  That  little  band  of  worshipers 
(twenty-six  church  meml)ers)  to  whom  Haven,  Barnum  and  Em- 
mons preached  a  hundred  years  ago,  and  for  whom  one  small 
house  sufficed,  has  been  succeeded  by  some  five  or  six  societies 
whose  elegant  houses  of  worship  attest  the  greater  wealth,  if  not 
the  greater  piety,  of  the  present  day. 

This  was  then  the  west  precinct  or  parish  in  Wrentham.  Na- 
thanael  Emmons,  the  famous  Dr.  Emmons,  whom  some  in  this 
assembly  have  seen  and  heard,  and  of  whom  everybody  is  think- 
ing to-ciay,  was,  good  ]Mr.  Bean  says,  "to  the  great  joy  of  the 
inhabitants,"  ordained,  21st  April,  1773,  pastor  of  this  west  parish 
in  Wrentham  ;  and  our  old  records  of  Wrentham  say  that  Rev. 
Nathanael  Emmons,  of  Wrentham.  was  married  to  Deliverance 
French,  of  Braintree,  in  1775.  The  long  life  of  that  distinguished 
man  so  linked  those  days  with  these  after  times  as  to  give  his  little 
parish  perpetual  life  ;  and  here  it  is  to-day. 

In  1773  it  was  estimated  that  there  were  more  people  in  the 
west  parish  than  in  the  whole  town  of  Wrentham  when  that  was 
set  off.  The  time  had  come  for  a  renewal  of  the  former  petition. 
The  unanimous  report  of  a  committee  of  such  men  as  Dea.  Thomas 
Man,  Capt.  Lemuel  KoUock  and  Jabez  Fisher  that  "  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  west  precinct  in  this  town  be  set  off  as  a  separate 


ADDENDA.  205 

township  by  themselves"  was  adopted,  16th  Februaiy,  1778.  The 
General  Court  followed  by  an  act  of  incorporation,  March  "2,  and 
Franklin  began  to  exist.  As  the  history  of  our  first  century  was 
also  your  history,  so  we  have  felt  the  strength  of  the  family  tie 
ever  since  you  went  out  from  under  our  roof  and  set  up  for  your- 
selves. 

We  have  lived  peaceably,  like  good  neighbors,  having  no  quar- 
rels about  boundaries,  nor  even  any  lawsuits  about  paupers.  Let 
us  hope  it  may  continue  to  be  so  in  the  centuries  to  come. 

I  feel,  sir,  that  we  have  a  riglit  to  boast  to-day.  AVe  claim 
praise  for  so  bringing  up  this  fair  child,  of  whom  so  many  tine 
things  have  been  said  and  of  whom  so  many  more  will  be  said  be- 
fore the  sun  goes  down.  Yes,  sir,  the  mother  town  shares  in  all 
these  words  of  praise  and  compliment.  We  claim  that  the  fame 
of  Emmons,  of  the  Fishers,  the  Manns,  the  Metcalfs,  and  others, 
is  ours  as  well  as  yours.  The  old  town  gladly  bears  witness  to  the 
fidelity  of  the  younger,  to  those  sentiments  of  patriotism  and  honor 
which  reflect  so  much  credit  upon  l)Oth.  'What  you  ha\e  done  for 
religion,  for  education,  for  temperance,  for  the  Union,  for  many 
benevolent  and  industrial  enterprises,  is  surely  worthy  of  honorable 
mention  here.  Especially  let  us  commend  that  tolerant  spirit  — 
so  different,  perhaps,  from  that  which  prevailed  a  hundred  years 
ago. 

I  will  add  that  the  old  town  has  given  freely  of  her  substance  to 
her  children  —  Franklin.  Foxboro  and  Norfolk,  and  has  seen  them 
all  well-to-do  in  the  world,  while  she  herself  has  some  broad  acres 
left,  and  is  still  fair  to  look  upon.  Except  our  old  mother,  Ded- 
ham,  none  can  show  a  better  family'  record. 

.3.  Our  Fathers.  We  reverence  the  memory  of  the  departed, 
and  we  welcome  on  this  occasion  the  grej'-haired  sires  of  Franklin 
with  all  their  early  reminiscences.  Of  them  it  may  be  truly  said, 
•'  nndtitude  of  j'ears  teach  wisdom." 

Hon.  M.  M.  Fisher  of  Medway,  but  a  son  of  Franklin,  re- 
sponded :  — 

Mr.  Pkesidext  :  According  to  the  State  census  of  187.5,  there 
were  then  living  in  Franklin  127  men  between  the  ages  of  00  and 
92  years.  With  few  exceptions,  these  are  your  resident  fathers  of 
to-daj".  Considering  that  your  recent  growth  has  attracted  manj- 
younger  men,  the  proportion  of  on p  old  man  in  eleven  of  your  pop- 
ulation speaks  well  for  the  salubrity  of  your  climate,  and  the  good 
habits  of  your  people.  Besides  these,  there  are  many  non-resident 
fathers  whose  right  hands  would  sooner  forget  their  cunning  than 
they  ever  forget  this  -Jerusalem  of  their  liirtli  and  of  their  early  joy. 

You  remember  that  Daniel  Wetister,  a  native  of  another  Frank- 
lin, once  said,  and  without  any  disparagement  to  his  nati\e  State, 


206  HISTORY   OF   FRANKLIN. 

"New  Hampshire  is  a  good  State  to  emigrate  from."  Now,  it 
must  not  be  inferred,  because  Horace  Maun,  a  native  of  our  own 
Franlclin,  and  now  equally  honored  in  immortal  bronze  vrith  "  the 
great  expounder"  on  the  grounds  of  our  State  Capital,  and  because 
men  of  lesser  note  have  emigrated  from  j'ou,  that  this  detracts  anj'- 
thing  from  the  luster  of  their  native  town ;  for  their  distinction 
achieved  in  other  fields  may  ha^e  been  the  direct  result  of  theii 
birth  and  early  training  among  you. 

Time  would  fail  me  to  mention  even  b}-  name  all  the  fathers, 
living  and  dead,  who  have  now  such  distinction,  either  at  home 
or  abroad,  as  reflects  honor  upon  the  place  of  their  nativity.  Some 
of  this  class  going  abroad,  drawn  bj'  love  of  kindred  and  early 
associations,  have  returned  to  their  "  native  heath,"  bringing  their 
sheaves  with  them.  New  York,  while  it  attracted  and  still  retains 
some  of  your  sous,  returned  others,  who,  though  fathers  in  age, 
are  Greene  to-day.  At  the  beginning  of  the  late  civil  war, 
South  Carolina  reluctantly  spared  one  of  her  merchant  princes  to 
return  to  his  old  home,  and  j'ou  find  him  here  loyal  and  true,  with 
brothers  upon  either  side  of  him,  and  all  now  honored  as  among 
the  3'oung  fathers  of  _vour  town.  New  Hampshire,  though  it  did 
attract  one  of  3'our  sons  to  become  the  founder  of  their  great  city 
of  spindles,  yet  nothing  could  repress  his  love  for  the  home  of  his 
j-outh.  So  he  becomes  the  founder  of  jour  noble  academy,  one  of 
vour  churches,  and  the  chief  patron  of  j'our  public  librarj*. 

But  besides  native  sons  returned  to  become  fathers  among  j'ou, 
how  many  sons  of  others  have  come  to  be  fathers  with  them.  Do 
I  see  before  me  an  adopted  father  prominent  in  all  business  enter- 
prises, who  h\  taking  a  single  K-nupp  within  your  borders,  after- 
wards became  enamored  with  your  whole  town  ?  After  the  good 
Joseph  had  i^lanted  corn  on  the  fertile  l)anks  of  j'our  little  Nile, 
did  not  the  whole  tribe  of  brothers,  their  wives  and  their  little 
ones  come  down  to  dwell  in  this  Goshen,  to  live  and  to  die  with 
you,  and  ever  since  have  not  the  Rays  of  light  shone  brighter  all 
around  you  ?  Did  not  one  Caleb,  coming  Nye  to  this  land  of 
promise  enter  in  ?  Did  he  not  find  the  grapes  of  Eschol  sweet  to 
his  taste,  and  did  he  not  CUeve  to  the  land  with  all  his  heart? 

Franklin  has,  indeed,  been  hospitable  to  strangers,  aad  strange 
mont  sent  you  down  a  modest  Steirart  and  a  Russegve,  Middle- 
would  it  be  had  she  not  entertained  some  angels  unawares.  Ver- 
boro  an  Afn'ood  and  a  KiiKj.  Blackstone  a  Nolan  to  heal  your 
sick,  Bellingham  a  Freeman  to  moderate  your  public  meetings, 
Stoneham  a  Squires  to  manage  your  schools,  and  Connecticut  a 
young  Father  Stewart  to  Register  your  good  deeds  and  report  your 
progress  to  the  outside  world.  Once,  when  waiting  for  more  to 
come,  behold  a  Waite  came  and  a  whole  class  of  new  industries 
sprang  up,  as  if  by  magic.     Though  he  must  wait  patiently  to  be 


ADDENDA.  207 

ranked  as  a  father  in  years,  he  is  known  and  Felt  to  be  a  father  in 
your  largest  business  industr}'. 

Among  \o\vc  native  sons,  while  some  aspired  to  distinction  in 
ci^•il  and  professional  life,  others  chose  to  be  simply  men  of  straw. 
Of  this  class  a  quartette  at  least  have  reaped  as  well  as  strawed, 
and  neither  the  character  nor  the  paper  of  your  Daniels  and  Greene, 
yoiu'  Thayer  and  Morse  need  any  endorsement  from  me.  Your 
master-builder,  after  long  years  of  service  in  his  chosen  vocation, 
has  recently  added  musical  claims  to  rank  as  father,  perhaps,  to 
a  large  posterity. 

Though  many  of  your  fathers  have  "stayed  by  the  stuff,"  no 
sin  of  Achan  stains  the  Baliylonish  garments,  the  golden  wedge 
or  the  silver  shekels  which  adorn  their  tents.  Among  your  intel- 
ligent farmers  a  Richardson  makes  j-our  taxes  and  writes  }"our 
deeds  and  wills  ;  a  Clark,  a  Deacon  Adams,  serving  often  in  af- 
fairs of  church  and  state,  and  many  other  farmers  in  years  now 
cultivate  their  ancestral  acres. 

But  what  shall  I  say  of  those  elder  fathers,  of  fourscore  years 
and  more — a  Knapp,  a  Bullard.  a  Gilmorc,  a  Daniels,  a  Fond,  a 
llolbrook,  a  Fisher,  a  Faine.  a  King  and  others,  the  scattering 
remnant  of  past  generations.  The  events  of  the  day,  my  aged 
friends,  have  brought  past  events  before  you  in  quick  succession. 
Where  the  beautiful  village  now  stands,  adorned  with  churches 
and  stately-  dwellings,  schools,  banks,  mills,  shops,  railroad  and 
telegraph,  j'ou  once  saw,  and  I  saw,  but  a  dozen  houses  and  fam- 
ilies—  with  the  old  church,  bleak  and  barren  without,  and  cheer- 
less and  cold  within.  Together  we  recall  the  old  noon-houses, 
with  stone  hearth  and  warm  coals  ;  the  hundred  horse-sheds  flank- 
ing the  meeting-house  and  Common  ;  the  tall  Lombardy  poplars, 
with  spire-pointed  limbs  more  dead  than  living.  We  have  heard 
on  our  farms  the  bleating  of  sheep,  whose  washing  and  shearing 
were  holiday  times  for  the  bo3's.  In  our  houses,  though  bare  of 
carpets  and  pianos,  the  buzz  of  the  spinning-wheel  and  the 
flying-shuttle  foretold  the  new  jackets  of  homespun  to  protect  us 
against  the  snows  of  winter.  The  Bible  and  catechism.  Bunyan 
and  Baxter,  with  a  volume  from  the  old  Franklin  library,  supplied 
the  familj'  with  solid  food  for  the  intellectual  man.  A  little  post- 
otiice  in  the  mother-town  of  Wrentham  detained  a  few  letters  and 
papers,  brought  weeklj-  for  distribution  at  the  store  of  Asa  and 
Davis  Tha3-er,  ehiefl}'  on  Sundaj-  noons,  before  the  day  of  .Sunday- 
schools. 

Your  ears  were  greeted  with  sharp  and  angrj-  controversies  be- 
tween Federahsts  and  Eepublicans  aijout  the  embargo  and  the 
gunboat  system,  the  poheies  of  Adams  and  Jetterson,  the  treason 
and  trial  of  Burr,  and  the  War  of  1812. 

After  alluding  to  the   mauv  home   changes  and  the   time  when 


208  HISTORY   OF   FRANKLIN. 

the  Ponds  and  Fishers  could  have  out- voted  all  the  rest,  Mr.  Fisher 
continued :  — 

A  prolific  emigration  has  borne  manj-  of  your  sons  to  the  towji 
I  represent  (Medway).  Deacons  Allen  and  Blake,  and  Uncle 
Elias,  all  of  blessed  mgrnory,  sleep  to-day.  But  we  have  living  a 
Ray,  a  Fuller,  a  Daniels  —  municipal  fathers  all ;  besides  Met- 
calfs  and  Bullards.  Ponds  and  Whites,  a  Clark,  a  Boj'd,  a  Wood- 
ward, all  fathers,  but  proud  to  have  been  your  sons  in  former  days. 

With  a  tender  reference  to  his  own  attachments,  the  speaker 
closed  with  the  sentiment :  — 

ISIay  the  young  fathers  and  mothers  of  Franklin  understand 
their  real  mission,  and  resolve  that  their  young  children,  becoming 
the  future  fathers  of  the  town,  shall  excel  in  all  grace  and  wisdom 
even  the  best  of  all  the  fathers  who  have  gone  before  them. 

4.  Our  Sons.  Maj'  the}"  prove  themselves  worthy  descendants 
of  a  sterling  ancestry,  emulating  the  thrift  and  sturdy  integrity  of 
the  fathers. 

George  A.  Adams,  Esq.,  of  Attleboro,  after  a  graceful  saluta- 
tion to  his  native  town,  said  :  — 

We  have  good  reason  to  entertain  deep  gratitude  and  interest 
in  the  welfare  of  this  town,  for  we  have  had  the  advantage  of  her 
scliools  and  educational  institutions,  and  have  been  surrounded 
by  her  healthy  moral  influences.  And  to-day  the  ofBcials  and 
fathers  of  the  town  may  congratulate  themselves  that  not  a  town 
in  the  .State  of  the  same  size  can  .show  less  native  criminals  than 
the  little  town  of  Franklin. 

Mr.  President,  we  can  oflFer  no  better  evidence  of  the  loy- 
alty of  the  sons  of  Franklin  than  the  band  of  veterans  who  are 
assembled  with  us  to-day.  Their  heroic  deeds  and  sacrifices  are 
within  the  memory  of  most  of  those  present.  I  need  not  recall 
that  wave  of  patriotism  which  swept  over  our  country  in  1861. 
The  sons  of  Franklin,  under  the  command  of  Captain  Eockwood, 
joined  with  the  Wrontham  Home  C4uards,  and  on  this  very  Com- 
mon took  their  first  lessons  in  the  tactics  of  war.  Manj-  of  these 
very  men  did  noble  service  on  the  field  of  battle  in  the  ranks  of 
the  old  Eighteenth  IMassachusetts.  But  all  of  those  gallant  sol- 
diers are  not  here  to-day.  Many  lie  buried  on  the  fields  of  Vir- 
ginia, where  theynoljly  gave  their  lives  that  we  in  prosperity  under 
a  solid  Union  might  live.  May  the  memory  of  the  fallen  be  made 
especially  sacred  on  this  day,  and  may  it  never  be  said  in  the  future 
that  Franlvlin  is  unmindful  of  their  ser\-ices.  May  old  Franklin 
continue  in  her  prosperity.     May  her  educational  institutions  in- 


ADDENDA.  209 

crease  in  usefulness.  Ma}-  the  busj'  hum  of  the  factoiy  loom  and 
the  din  of  industiy  resound  throughout  the  place  until  she  as  a 
town  shall  have  obtained  a  foremost  rank  in  the  old  Commonwealth. 

6.  Our  Daughters. 

Mrs.  H.  M.  Miller  of  Providence,  formerl}^  Miss  Harriet  M. 
Partridge,  replied  in  earnest  language  in  behalf  of  her  native  town. 
We  regret  we  cannot  produce  her  speech. 

7.  The  President  of  the  JSfew  England  Historic-Genealogical 
Society.  We  welcome  his  presence  not  only  as  the  official  head  of 
this  association,  but  as  the  friend  and  constant  patron  of  the  great 
moral  and  industrial  interests  of  our  land,  who  in  his  acquisition  of 
treasures  has  borne  from  Franklin  two  of  her  fairest  daughters. 
Verily  he  should  speak  on  this  occasion  and  give  an  account  of 
himself. 

Hon.  Marshal  P.  Wilder  responded  :  — 

Mr.  President  :  Oh  !  yes,  j^es,  I  wish  I  could  speak  as  I  ought 
in  response  to  the  kind  sentiments  with  which  you  have  honored 
me.  But,  sir,  I  am  somewhat  in  the  condition  of  certain  virgins 
who  appeared  on  another  festive  occasion  without  much  oil  in  tlieir 
lamps  ;  and  then,  sir,  the  flame  of  my  lamp  is  alreadj'  flickering  iu 
its  socket,  and  will  shine  but  dimly  in  the  presence  of  so  many 
luminaries  of  learning  and  eloquence  whom  I  see  around  me.  Still 
I  beg  to  assure  j-ou  that  I  am  most  happy,  happy,  happy  to  be  here 
and  to  participate  in  the  ceremonies  of  this  interesting  celebration. 

I  thank  j'ou  for  your  recognition  of  the  society  over  which  I  have 
the  honor  to  preside  —  a  society  whose  mission  is  to  gather  up, 
preserve  and  transmit  to  future  generations  aU  that  can  lie  known 
of  the  histor3^,  progress  and  influence  of  our  beloved  New  England, 
in  which  3'our  good  town  has  played  so  important  a  part.  When 
we  reflect  upon  what  our  New  England  has  done  for  our  eountrj-  and 
the  world,  we  should  remember  with  undying  aflfection  the  homes 
and  sacrifices  of  our  fathers,  and  the  benign  examples  and  influences 
that  have  made  us  what  we  are.  When  we  reflect  on  what  the 
good  old  Commonwealth,  thank  God  !  the  accomplished  statesman 
and  Christian  gentleman  —  our  beloved  Governor  Rice,  who  honors 
this  occasion  with  his  presence  —  what  the}-  have  done  for  the  dif- 
fusion of  knowledge,  the  spread  of  the  gospel,  the  extension  of  hu- 
man freedom,  the  support  of  constitutional  liberty,  and  whatever 
tends  to  the  advancement  and  happiness  of  the  human  race,  I  feel 
deeplj-  the  obligation  which  rests  upon  us,  to  pi'eserve  and  trans- 
mit unimpaired  its  history  to  those  who  are  to  come  after  us,  and 
I  commend,  with  all  my  heart,  occasions  like  the  present  as  emi- 
nentlj'  adapted  to  this  purpose.  Mr.  President,  we  live  in  an  age 
u 


210  HISTORY   OF   FRANKLIN. 

of  astonishing  aetivitj-  and  enterprise  —  an  age  wlien  science,  art 
and  ci^^lization  seem  to  have  been  reused  from  the  sleep  of  centu- 
ries, and  to  have  commenced  a  new  era  in  human  advancement. 
In  all  this  progress  jour  good  old  town  of  Franklin  has  furnished 
her  full  share  of  distinguished  men  and  noble  women  —  her  Em- 
monses,  Fishers,  Blakes,  Thayers,  Manns,  Millers,  Richardsons, 
Deans,  Metcalfs,  Bacons,  Bakers,  Raj-s,  Smalleys,  C4reenes,  and 
others  of  fair  fame,  which  she  has  sent  out  as  ornaments  to  soci- 
ety and  blessings  to  our  land. 

You  have  also  referred  to  me  in  connection  with  the  great  rural 
and  industrial  interests  of  our  land,  the  importance  of  which  I 
fully  realize. 

\\'hen  I  consider  the  vast  extent  of  our  country  —  embracing 
almost  every  variety  of  soil  and  climate,  eapaljle  of  producing 
almost  all  the  various  fruits  of  the  haliitable  globe,  its  rapidly-in- 
creasing population,  destined,  according  to  the  best  estimate,  to 
reach  more  than  a  hundred  millions  of  souls,  before  some  who  now 
hear  me  shall  be  carried  to  their  graves,  and  that  all  of  these  are 
to  be  fed  from  our  soil,  I  am  conscious  of  the  importance  of  the 
mission  I  have  assumed.  Mr.  President,  I  am  verj'  fond  of  everj-- 
thing  which  pertains  to  rural  life  and  rural  improvement.  I  can- 
not remember  the  time  when  I  did  not  love  the  cultivation  of  the 
soil.  I  am  very  fond  of  fruits  and  flowers  —  those  overflowings  of 
God's  bounty  to  mankind,  and  I  love  to  be  remembered  as  one 
who  in  a  long  life  of  labor  and  of  love  has  done  something  to  im- 
prove and  adorn  mother  earth,  something  which  shall  contribute 
to  the  comfort  and  happiness  of  those  who  are  to  follow  us,  some- 
thing that  shall  live  when  I  have  passed  awaj',  and  pardon  me  for 
saying  that  I  fondly  cherish  the  hope  that  I  may  be  remembered 
in  man}'  a  beautiful  tree,  many  a  luscious  fruit,  manj'  a  lovelj' 
flower  when  I  am  sleeping  in  the  dust.  Mr.  President,  there  is 
another  allusion  in  your  sentiment  which  touches  me  more  ten- 
derly, and  to  which  I  am  most  happy  to  respond,  and  I  plead 
guilty  to  the  soft  impeachment  of  having  carried  off'  some  of  the 
choicest  treasures  of  Franklin,  and  I  cannot  refrain  from  thus 
publicly  acknowledging  the  deep  sense  of  gratitude  I  owe  her  for 
the  two  fair  daughters  —  for  to  my  ej-es  they  seemed  the  fairest  of 
the  fair  —  wives  who  have  been  the  solace  and  comfort  of  my  life, 
and  the  pride,  joy  and  blessing  of  my  household.  If  a  virtuous 
woman  is  far  above  the  price  of  rubies  —  surely  I  have  been 
doubly  lilest  —  rich  indeed  l.>y  the  inheritance  of  their  loves. 

]\Ir.  I'residcnt,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  thank  you  for  the  kind 
manner  in  which  you  have  received  my  remarks,  and  I  give  you  as 
mj'  sentiment  on  the  occasion — the  toivn  of  FraiiMin.  M.ay  it 
prosper  in  the  future  as  in  the  past  —  rising  higher  and  higher  in 
the  scale  of  human  attainments,  and,  like  Franklin  himself,  be  the 
almoner  of  countless  blessings  to  the  world. 


ADDENDA.  211 

9.     Dr.  Emmons'  ^Tinisff)/. 

The  respouse  from  Rev.  Jacob  Ide,  Jr.,  of  Mansfield,  and 
grandson  of  the  venerable  divine  of  Franklin,  showed  that  the 
shrewdness  and  quick  wit  of  the  Emmons'  stock  has  not  deterio- 
rated at  all  in  its  second  remove.  Not  even  the  calm  and  clear- 
eyed  self-possession  of  the  paternal  character  could  (h)  Ide  its 
flashings,  as  the  following  report  of  his  speech  will  show  :  — 

The  great  difference  between  the  past  and  the  present  is  made 
strikingly  apparent  bj-  one  single  fact.  Formerly  we  were  sup- 
posed to  gain  our  ideas  of  things  by  examining  complete  speci- 
mens ;  but  now  we  are  furnished  witli  only  a  small  sample.  It  is 
in  accordance  with  this  custom,  I  suppose,  that  I  am  placed  on 
exhibition  here  as  a  relic  of  Dr.  Emmons'  ministry,  and  am  ex- 
pected to  represent  it  by  contrast. 

I  had  hoped  that  Edison  would  have  perfected  his  phonograph 
so  that  it  could  have  been  placed  upon  Dr.  Emmons'  tombstone 
and  he  could  have  spoken  for  himself.  I  confess,  sir,  that  I  am 
proud  of  m}-  grandfather  ;  but  I  am  afraid,  if  he  were  here  to-da}-, 
that  he  would  not  be  willing  to  reciprocate  the  compliment.  And 
yet  it  is  a  good  thing  to  have  a  great  man  for  j-our  grandfather, 
for  when  you  are  overcome  by  a  sense  of  3'our  own  littleness,  j'ou 
can  comfort  yourself  with  the  hope  of  becoming  great  hereafter 
through  the  irresistilile  force  of  heredity.  Dr.  P^mmons'  ministry 
extended  over  more  than  half  a  century.  Mine  has  not  j'et  reached 
its  first  quarter.  Who  knows,  sir,  what  I  maj"  be  able  to  achieve 
if  I  am  permitted  to  run  the  ministerial  race  as  long  as  he  did? 
It  is  the  home-stretch,  sir,  that  tells  the  story. 

Moreover,  I  am  not  a  little  comforted  when  I  think  how  few 
there  are  who  would  feel  like  putting  on  the  cocked  hat,  or  ac- 
knowledge themselves  big  enough  to  fill  out  that  well-remembered 
suit  of  small  clothes.  If  we  would  reproduce  Dr.  Emmons  we 
must  find  a  head  like  his  —  a  battery  of  thought  sending  out 
startling  shocks  for  limp  theologians  ;  a  heart  like  his  —  all  aflame 
with  loyalty  to  truth  and  right ;  a  body  like  his  —  in  subjection  to 
the  hiaher  impulses  of  his  nature,  as  if  it  were  indeed  a  temple  of 
the  Holy  Ghost. 

Dr.  Emmons'  ministry  must  certainly  be  regarded  as  a  success- 
ful ministry,  for  he  made  his  people  do  as  he  pleased.  If  that  be 
not  a  successful  ministry,  I  do  not  know  what  is.  I  know  of  a 
large  number  of  ministers  who  would  like  to  succeed  in  that  same 
way.  and  if  I  thought  that  putting  on  a  coclvcd  hat  and  a  suit  of 
small  clothes  would  make  my  people  "  wheel  into  line  "  as  his  did, 
I  would  don  them  at  once.  But  I  feel  sad  to  think  how  much  be- 
sides the  externals  would  be  lacking  in  my  case. 

Dr.  Emmons'  ministry  was  acknowledged  to  be  an  intellectual 


212  HISTORY   OF   FRANKLIN. 

ministiy.  They  who  went  up  to  that  old  church  on  the  Sabbath 
found  a  minister  in  it  wlio  did  his  own  thin]<iug.  And  he  did  much 
to  malve  his  liearers  close  and  independent  thinkers.  lie  made 
them  think  to  some  purpose  —  what  the^'  were,  where  they  were, 
and  where  the}-  were  going.  lie  snlijected  them  to  an  immense 
pressure  on  the  brain.  From  that  high  pulpit  he  fired  the  solid 
truth  down  through  their  heads  into  their  hearts.  He  did  not 
arrest  attention  by 

"  Words  of  learned  length  and  thundering  sound," 

but  by  pure  thoughts  in  pure,  simple  vSaxon  terms.  His  Sabbath 
sermon  was  the  sensation  of  the  week.  Men  carried  home  from 
the  sanctuary  something  that  was  not  onlj-  worth  remembering, 
but  something  that  was  not  easy  to  forget.  He  was  a  penetrating 
jireaclier.  He  had  sharp  points  to  his  arguments.  He  was  an 
author  that  had  authority.  He  addressed  the  understanding  and 
confidently  appealed  to  the  reason  of  his  hearers,  and  Franklin 
may  well  commemorate  to-day  the  educational  forces  which  Dr. 
Emmons  originated  and  projected. 

Dr.  Emmons'  ministrj'  was  also  a  discriminating  ministrj'.  He 
brought  into  sharp  outline  the  difference  between  truth  and  error. 
He  was  never  guilty  of  confounding  the  finite  with  the  infinite,  never 
caught  in  the  absurd  experiment  of  pushing  the  latter  into  the 
limits  of  the  former.  He  was  reverentlj'  conscious  of  the  distance 
between  the  creature  and  the  Creator,  and  never  so  far  forgot 
himself  as  to  think  that  he  was  the  Creator  and  God  the  creature. 
His  theology  was  a  sj-stera,  not  a  speculative  jumble.  His  argu- 
ments were  like  express-trains  going  from  premise  to  conclusion 
without  stopping  at  any  way-stations.  No  one  who  started  with 
him  on  his  (rains  of  reasoning  ever  found  himself  furnished  with  a 
ticket  for  one  place  and  left  at  another. 

But  Dr.  Emmons'  ministry  was,  best  of  all,  fearless,  conscien- 
tious and  scriptural.  He  received  the  message  which  came  from 
heaven  as  the  best  that  could  be  obtained  and  the  only  one  needed. 
He  never  thought  it  anj"  part  of  his  dutj'  to  apologize  for  the 
divine  utterances.  He  never  tried  to  revise  the  statutes  of  the 
Almightj'.  A  "  thus  saith  the  Lord  "  was  to  him  the  end  of  all 
controvers}'.  Whenever  he  thought  it  his  duty  to  fire  a  hot  shot 
into  the  camp  of  error,  he  sent  it  right  along  without  stopping  to 
cool  it.  He  made  no  allowance  for  shrinkage  in  such  terms  as 
eternal  and  everlasting,  but  had  perfect  confidence  that  the  divine 
measurements  would  hold  out  under  all  circumstances.  He  re- 
joiced in  the  fact  that  God  rules  the  universe  and  considered  it  the 
noblest  attitude  of  men  to  l)ow  at  once  to  the  declared  will  of  God. 
I  am  thoroughly  convinced,  sir,  that  the  great  secret  of  his  power 
was  his  fidelity  to  the  truth.     He  received  it  humbly  and  obedi- 


ADDENDA.  213 

entlj-,  and  labored  •n'ith  his  might  to  induce  others  to  recgive  it  and 
oljoy  it  in  the  same  spirit. 

When  I  see  the  sliding  theological  scale  of  modern  ministers  — 
when  I  see  them  slipping  from  one  position  to  another,  uncertain 
where  they  are  —  now  here,  now  there,  oftenest  nowhere  —  I  am 
moved  to  wish  them  all  gathcreil  around  the  tomlistone  of  Ur. 
Emmons,  where,  through  perfected  phonograph  placed  upon  it, 
they  could  listen  to  the  well-remembered  tones  of  the  old  preacher 
as  he  should  repeat  those  familiar  words  of  a  greater  preacher  — 
"Make  full  proof  of  thy  ministry'.  Meditate  upon  these  things. 
Give  th3-self  wholly  to  them.  Take  heed  to  thyself  and  to  thy 
doctrine  —  that  3-e  ma}-  be  able  to  withstand  in  the  evil  daj-,  and 
having  done  all,  to  stand  !" 

10.  The   Present  Ministry  of  Franliin. 

The  livelj-  replj'  of  Rev.  E.  A.  Rand,  just  sundering  his  connec- 
tion with  the  CongTegational  church  as  its  acting  pastor,  has  also 
to  our  regret  passed  into  the  great  company  of  the  unwritten. 

11.  Horace  Mann:  a  native  of  Franklin  cmd  first  Secretary  of 
the  Board  of  Education  of  3fassachusetts. 

Prof.  B.  Piekman  Mann,  of  Cambridge,  youngest  son  of  Hon. 
Horace  Maun,  responded  :  — 

Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  :  The  honor  in  which 
the  memoiy  of  mj'  father  is  held  cannot  but  be  gratifying  to  me. 
If  I  seek  to  discover  the  cause  of  this  honorable  remembrance.  I  find 
it  in  the  recognition  of  the  work  which  my  father  did,  and  of  the 
spirit  which  animated  him  in  his  work.  That  work  had  both  a  ph}'- 
sical  and  a  spiritual  side  to  it.  The  ph3'sical  work  need  never  to  be 
done  again,  but  the  same  spirit  will  ever  find  an  opportunity  for  its 
exercise.  I  may  be  pardoned,  then,  if  I  endeavor  to  describe  the 
spirit  in  which  my  father  worked. 

As  a  lawyer,  he  held  to  the  principle  that  it  is  never  right  to 
defend  the  wrong.  Dissenting  vehementl_y  from  the  opinion  of 
Lord  Brougham,  that  a  lawyer  must  sacrifice  himself,  his  country', 
nay  even  honor  and  justice  itself,  if  need  be,  for  the  defense  of  Ms 
client,  he  held  that  an  advocate  loses  his  highest  power  when  he 
loses  the  conscious  conviction  that  he  is  contending  for  the  truth. 

As  a  public  officer  he  showed  a  spirit  which  I  cannot  better  de- 
scribe than  by  quoting  two  passages  from  his  private  journal ;  one 
wi'itten  when  appointed  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Education  (June 
10th.  1837):  •■  I  now  stand  in  a  new  relation  to  the  world.  Hence- 
forth, as  long  as  I  hold  this  office,  I  devote  myself  to  the  supremest 
welfare  of  mankind  upon  earth."  The  other,  written  April  18th, 
1838,     '•  The  Legislature  have  fixed  my  salary,  as  Secretary  of 


214  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

the  boarcV,  at  $1,500  ;  which  will  probably  leave  about  8500  for  my 
ordinary  expenses  and  services,  after  defraying  the  extraordinary 
expenses.  Well,  one  thing  is  certain,  if  I  live  and  have  my  health, 
I  will  be  revenged  on  them.  I  will  do  them  more  than  SI  ,500  worth 
of good. 

As  a  citizen  he  held  that  no  form  of  government  is  so  bad  as  a 
republic,  if  the  members  are  not  educated  morally  as  well  as  intel- 
leetuall}'.  And  as  an  educator  he  sought,  more  than  has  yet  lieen 
recognized  generally,  to  promote  that  moral  education  which  is  now 
so  sadlj' behindhand  in  our  community-. 

12.  The  Public  Schools  of  Fmnklin. 

Rev.  S.  W.  Squires,  of  the  School  Committee,  gave  an  enthusi- 
astic appeal  for  popular  education,  which  we  cannot  produce. 

13.  Dr.  Olli'cr  Dean  and  Higher  Education. 

Rev.  Dr.  Chambre,  pastor  of  Grace  church,  and  President  of 
the  Trustees  of  the  Dean  Academj',  was  most  appropriately  called 
upon  to  respond.  After  a  brief  acltnowledgment  of  his  interest 
in  the  occasion.  Dr.  Chambre  proceeded  :  — 

Dr.  Dean  was  born  in  Franlilin  in  1783.  This  was  only  five 
years  after  the  incorporation  of  the  town,  whose  completed  hun- 
dred years  of  legal  existence  we  celebrate  to-daj'.  His  childhood, 
and  3'outh,  and  early  manhood,  were  thus  spent  amid  tlie  toils  and 
roughness  of  a  new  country  and  sparse  population.  To  this,  in  a 
large  measure,  we  attribute  the  ruggedness  of  character  for  which 
he  was  so  noticeable,  his  straightforward  frankness  and  direct 
honesty  of  speech  and  purpose.  Then,  his  earlv  life  was  spent 
under  the  ministr}'  of  Dr.  Emmons  —  that  Nestor  of  the  pulpit  of 
New  England  in  other  days.  Here  again  we  detect  causes  which 
must  have  operated  powerfully  in  developing  the  strength  of  will 
and  noble  integrity  which  alwaj-s  characterized  Dr.  Dean.  Al- 
though never,  at  least  from  a  ver}-  youthful  period,  fully  sympa- 
thising with  Dr.  Emmons  theologically,  and  at  length  asserting  his 
doctrinal  disagreement  b}-  word  and  action.  Dr.  Dean  cherished 
the  memory  of  Dr.  Emmons,  and  spoke  in  the  most  att'ectionate 
and  respectful  terms  of  his  life  and  labors  to  the  last. 

In  the  providence  of  God,  Dr.  Dean  was  able  to  practice  his  pro- 
fession onlj'  eight  years.  He  was  compelled  to  rehnquish  it  then, 
owing  to  shattered  health,  so  shattered  that  his  friends  despaired 
of  his  life.  But  he  lived  to  the  ripe  old  age  of  88.  He  was  not 
an  idler.  Appointed  successive!}'  to  the  superintendency  of  the 
Medwaj'  cotton  factory,  and  the  Amoskeag  Manufacturing  Com- 
pan}-,  he  became  at  last  extensively  identified  with  manufacturing 
interests,  and  accumulated  a  large  fortune.     This  he  devoted  in 


ADDENDA.  215 

great  jjart  to  the  promotion  of  what  was  nearest  to  his  heart,  the 
religion  of  Jesus  Christ  and  the  eiUieation  of  youth.  He  was  sub- 
stantially the  founder  and  principal  support  of  the  Universalist 
parish  of  this  town.  His  gifts  to  that  parish  reach  nearly  860,000. 
To  him  the  parish  is  almost  wholly  indebted  for  its  present  mag- 
nificent church.  The  noble  and  costly  buikling  which  bears  his 
honored  name,  "  Dean  Academy."  is  nearly  altogether  the  outflow 
of  his  wise  beneficence.  To  that  institution,  from  first  to  last,  he 
devoted  between  S200.000  and  8300,000,  that  it  might  be  well  es- 
tablished, and  be  a  perpetually  increasing  blessing  to  the  j'outh  of 
this  country.  He  deeply  felt  that  education  must  be  as  thorough 
and  complete  as  possible,  if  the  integrity  and  glorj-  of  a  republic 
should  be  maintained.  He  recognized  that  institutions  of  a  higher 
grade  were  indispensable  to  the  highest  interests  and  usefulness  of 
our  public  school  system.  This,  unquestionably,  is  true.  The 
public  schools  of  this  town  are  stronger  and  better  because  Dean 
Academy  is  here  ;  just  as,  all  over  this  broad  land,  the  public 
schools,  and  all  subordinate  schools,  are  better  and  stronger  be- 
cause of  the  influence  exerted  upon  them  bj-  the  colleges  and  uni- 
versities. 

Dr.  Dean  did  not,  however,  confine  himself  to  the  church  here, 
or  to  Dean  Academy.  He  gave  al)out  8100,000  to  Tufts  College. 
He  gave  generously  to  the  public  lilirar^-  of  this  town,  and  to  that 
of  Medway.  He  gave  largely  and  wisely  in  various  directions,  and 
did  not  neglect  the  relatives  who  had  claims  on  his  heart  and  purse. 

Not  to  delaj-,  Mr.  President,  I  think  that,  perhaps,  sufficient 
has  been  said  to  rank  Dr.  Dean  as  a  public  lienefactor,  and  to  en- 
title his  name  to  go  down  the  history  of  Franklin  side  by  side  with 
the  man  vou  all  delight  to  honor,  who  was  also  his  friend  and  con- 
temporary. Dr.  Dean's  was  a  strong,  noble,  honest  and  withal  a 
genial  and  loving  character.  Too  near,  it  may  be,  to  be  fully 
appreciated  now,  I  do  not  doubt  that  as  the  years  pass  he  will 
be  more  and  more  recognized  and  revered  as  one  of  the  sons  of 
Franklin,  of  whom  she  will  be  forever  proudest. 

14.     Franklin' s  Educated  and  Professional  Men. 

Eev.  Albert  M.  Richardson,  who  had  traveled  from  Lawrence, 
Kansas,  on  purpose  to  attend  the  centennial  of  his  native  town, 
most  properly  stood  forth  as  the  representative  of  this  large  class  of 
our  Alumni,  and  he  did  his  part  well.  AYe  are  able  to  give  his 
speech  entire  :  — 

Mr.  President  :  I  can  hardlj-  understand  why  one  of  the  least 
of  all  the  honored  class  referred  to  in  this  sentiment  should  have 
been  selected  to  respond,  unless  it  is  to  be  accounted  for  on  the 
principle  that  "  distance  lends  enchantment  to  the  view."    Having 


216  HISTORY    OP    FRANKLIN. 

traveled  over  fifteen  hundred  miles,  and  traversed  twelve  States^ 
that  I  might  be  jneseiit  on  this  memoraljle  occasion,  I  suppose  the 
committee  felt  that  thej'  must  talce  some  notice  of  AVestern  pluck 
and  perseverance.  At  any  rate  I  am  here,  and  I  am  glad  to  be 
here.  You  have  been  pleased,  sir,  to  refer  to  Kansas  as  "the 
garden  of  the  West."  Why,  sir,  it  is  entirely  too  large  for  gar- 
dening purposes.  It  would  take  in  all  New  England,  and  leave  a 
broad  margin  for  raising  garden  sauce  outside.  As  a  speciracu  of 
Kansas  gardening.  I  have  seen  a  field  of  wheat  containing  2,800 
acres.  1  met  a  gentleman  last  week  on  the  cars,  from  the  Solo- 
mon Valley,  who  told  me  he  had  just  visited  a  field  there  which 
contained  3,600  acres,  all  ready  for  the  reapers.  That  field,  at  a 
low  estimate,  will  yield  75,000  bushels.  A  nice  garden  that,  sir  ! 
I  doubt  whether  Eden  itself  could  boast  of  a  bigger  crop.  Ac- 
cording to  the  report  of  the  commissioner  of  agriculture,  Kansas. 
has  this  year  1,522,787  acres  in  wheat,  which  will  yield  in  the 
neighborhood  of  thirty  million  bushels.  Her  fields  of  maize  are 
counted  by  the  square  mile  ;  her  fruit  crop  last  year  was  valued  at 
uearh'  three  million  dollars. 

So  much  for  our  garden.  Allow  me  to  add  that  60,000  people 
have  come  into  Kansas  within  the  last  four  months,  to  help  us  cul- 
tivate it,  and  they  have  taken  possession  of  over  one  million  acres 
of  land.  They  came  from  the  Eastern,  Middle  and  Western 
States,  and  from  over  the  sea.  Kansas  is  no  longer  "  bleeding, 
droughty,  famine-smitten  and  locust-eaten."  She  is  the  Canaan 
of  the  West  —  the  Land  of  Promise,  whither  the  tribes  go  up  to- 
possess  her.  Kansas  is  planted  with  New  England  seed  corn,  and 
very  prolific  has  it  proved  in  that  virgin  soil.  It  has  brought  forth 
fruit  an  hundred  fold. 

The  first  settlers  of  that  State  were  from  old  Massachusetts  — 
God  bless  her  !  The  same  principles  that  brought  the  Pilgrims  to 
Plymouth  in  the  Mayflower,  sent  their  descendants  to  Kansas  in 
1853  to  establish  civil  and  religious  freedom. 

The  historic  city  of  Lawrence  —  baptized  in  fire  and  blood  — 
with  its  10,000  inhabitants,  its  churches,  schools  and  State  Uni- 
versitj'  —  beautiful  for  situation  —  bears  the  honored  name  of 
Amos  A.  Lawrence,  while  its  ju-incipal  street  is  named  IMassachu- 
setts.  Kansas,  sir,  is  thoroughly  impregnated  with  New  P^nglaud 
principles  and  ideas,  and  (I  ought  to  add)  she  has  some  ideas  of 
her  own  l)esides.  She  has  had  representatives  from  Franklin,  like 
nearly  everj-  other  place  of  importance,  almost  from  the  first.  The 
Leonards  were  there  at  an  earlj-  day.  Also  Dr.  Amory  Hunting, 
whose  family  still  resides  there.  Luther  Dean  followed,  and  others 
whom  I  have  not  time  to  name.  Indeed,  sir,  when  I  travel  in  the 
West,  I  meet  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Franklin  pressing  west- 
ward, in  obedience  to  Horace  Greeley's  memorable  injunction. 


ADDENDA.  21T 

And  I  have  met  so  many  abroad  that  I  felt  it  my  duty  to  come 
back,  on  this  C'entenuial  ,year,  and  see  if  there  was  anybody  left 
behind.  And  I  assure  you,  sir,  I  am  surprised  to  see  what  a 
crowd  you  can  muster,  still,  of  genuine  natives  ;  you  have  verified 
the  Scripture  statement,  "There  is  that  scattereth,  and  3"et  in- 
creaseth."  The  more  you  send  abroad,  the  faster  you  seem  to 
multiph-  at  home  —  pro^^ug  that  the  remark,  attributed  to  Daniel 
Webster,  respecting  New  Hampshire  is  equally  applicable  to  cen- 
tury old  Franklin,  viz. :  It  is  a  good  place  to  raise  men!  It  is, 
perhaps,  hardly  in  good  taste  for  me  to  speak  in  this  presence  of 
the  quality  of  this  product  of  my  native  soil.  I  will  saj'  this  much, 
however  —  I  doubt  whether  any  town  of  its  size  in  this  Common- 
wealth can  show  a  better  record  of  intelligent,  educated  and  useful 
men  (and  women,  too,)  than  Franklin.  More  than  a  score  have 
entered  the  Christian  ministry  since  my  recollection,  and  are  prov- 
ing themselves  workmen  that  need  not  be  ashamed  of  their  work. 
Several  have  been  missionaries  in  our  own  and  in  foreign  lands. 
The  medical  and  legal  professions,  too,  have  been  largely  and  well 
represented  by  her  sons.  The  intellectual  pabulum  dealt  out  in 
Franklin  pulpit  from  the  days  of  Dr.  Ennnons  until  now  has  been 
of  the  most  solid  and  substantial  character,  and  in  those  early 
times  it  was  largely  reinforced,  stimulated  and  given  a  practical 
direction  by  the  efficient  training  received  at  the  old  Academj',  of 
which  my  honored  friend  and  teacher  —  the  orator  of  the  day  — 
Rev.  Dr.  Blake,  was  the  first  preceptor.  A  goodh'  companj-  of 
young  men  owed  their  entrance  upon,  and  success  in  a  professional 
life,  to  instructions  received  within  those  hallowed  walls  from  the 
lips  of  Dr.  Blake  and  his  successors. 

Allow  me.  in  closing  these  rambling  remarks,  to  add  that  Dr. 
Franklin  builded  better  than  he  knew,  when,  in  reply  to  the  sug- 
gestion of  a  friend,  that  a  bell  for  the  church  might  be  an  accept- 
able present,  he  replied  that  ''  If  the  good  people  of  Franklin  were 
the  sort  of  folk  he  took  them  to  be,  theij  were  more  fond  of  sense 
than  sound  "  and  sent  them  books  instead  of  a  bell.  That  library 
was  kept,  in  my  boj'hood,  in  m}-  father's  house,  and  to  its  perusal 
I  was  indebted  for  a  taste  for  reading  and  a  thirst  for  knowledge. 
But,  sir,  while  books  are  better  than  bells,  they  .also  make  more 
noise  in  the  world.  Brains  are  sure  to  be  heard  from  ;  and  Frank- 
lin has  a  son  of  whose  authorship  she  may  well  be  proud,  but  of 
whom  it  does  not  become  me  to  speak  in  this  presence.  His  books 
for  the  3'oung  are  read  on  both  sides  of  the  sea.  In  short,  sir,  if 
the  next  century  does  as  well  as  the  past,  Frankhn  will  be  "  no 
mean  city."  Her  educated  and  professional  men  and  women  will 
be  among  the  brightest  lights  in  the  firmament  of  literature,  and 
her  second  centennial  will  probablj'  usher  in  the  millennium.  So 
mote  it  be. 


218  HISTORY   OF   FRANKLIN. 

15.   Our  Next  Centennial. 

Rev.  AV.  M.  Thayer  replied  with  the  following  origiual 

CENTENNIAL   DEEAM. 

I  dreamed  —  and  yet  not  all  a  dieaiu 

(For  dreams  are  airy  things. 
When  Reason  folds  its  restless  powers, 

And  Fancy  spreads  her  wings,) 
Tliat  for  a  hundred  years  I  slept, 

A  nap  of  wondrous  date. 
And  woke  amid  the  clang  of  bells 

In  nineteen  seventy-eight. 

The  same  old  sun  in  grandeur  bore 

The  flaming  torch  on  high ; 
Tlie  same  fair  earth  from  flowery  shrine 

Bore  incense  to  the  sky. 
Sweet  Venus  with  the  pretty  maids 

Was  brilliant  as  of  old ; 
The  same  still  night  upon  her  breast 

Wore  studs  of  burnished  gold. 

All  else  how  changed!    Strange  mystic  sight 

That  met  my  wandering  view ! 
Was  this  illusion's  fatal  cheat  ? 

All  things  so  strangely  new ! 
Amazed  I  stood !  spell-bound  I  looked 

And  viewed  the  picture  o'er! 
And  looked  again !     Could  this  be  true  ? 

And  wondered  more  and  more. 

Is  this  the  town  where  I  was  born  ? 

And  now  a  sity  fair! 
Three  miles  in  length,  and  fifty  bells 

All  ringing  in  the  air. 
What  Midas-touch  hath  wrought  this  change  ? 

What  means  this  fairy  view  ? 
Ye  gods  that  love  mysterious  things, 

Come,  tell  me,  is  this  true  ? 

Fleet  coursers  o'er  the  pavements  flew; 

The  horse-cars  came  and  went; 
A  mighty  crowd  surged  to  and  fro 

On  joyous  mission  bent; 
And  flags  with  groups  of  sixty  stars 

Waved  from  the  spires  that  rose ; 
And  cannon  pealed  two  hundred  guns, 

From  day-dawn  to  its  close. 


ADDENDA. 

The  City  Hall  on  yonder  height 

Stood  grandly  in  that  hour; 
Five  thousand  souls  could  sit  and  list 

Beneath  its  lofty  tower. 
I  bent  my  steps  to  view  it  o'er 

With  gems  of  art  replete, 
And  found  myself  bewildered  quite 

And  lost  on  Alpine  street. 

In  time  I  reached  the  City  Hall, 

Of  structures  seen  the  crown; 
I  found  my  great-great-great-grandson 

Was  mayor  of  the  town; 
His  aldermen  around  him  stood 

Dressed  in  othcial  rig; 
The  mayor  was  a  little  man, 

The  aldermen  were  big. 

Within  the  spacious  hall  select. 

Arrayed  by  ladies  fair, 
A  museum  of  ancient  things 

Drew  crowds  of  people  there. 
A  mass  of  relics,  rare  and  old, 

Around,  above,  below; 
They  said  that  all  of  these  were  used 

A  hundred  years  ago. 

The  first  that  caught  my  startled  gaze, 

Most  curious  relic  yet! 
Just  as  it  is  for  all  the  world, 

Our  dear  old  town-house  set; 
And  men  were  making  fun  of  things 

That  women  wore  so  queer. 
I  saw  the  ladies  laughing  o'er 

The  hat  I  use  this  year. 

I  could  not  tell  the  reason  why 

They  scanned  it  o'er  and  o'er, 
For  queerest  of  all  things  to  me, 

Were  what  the  women  wore. 
Such  hats  upon  their  dainty  heads. 

Enough  to  fright  a  beau! 
And  yet  they  said  "that  hat  was  worn 

A  hundred  years  ago!  " 

Just  then  the  city  bells  rang  out; 

Some  fifty  bells  or  more ; 
The  band  struck  up  Centennial  march 

Amid  the  cannon's  roar; 


219 


220  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

The  setting  sun  threw  b.ack  liis  joy- 
In  every  golden  beam; 

The  grandeur  a^Yed  my  soul ;  I  woke 
And  lo!  it  was  a  dream. 

16.  Franklin's  earliest  mamtfactures. 

The  response  of  Davis  Thaj-er,  one  of  the  leading  manufac- 
turers of  the  town,  and  representing  the'oldest  straw  house  in  the 
State,  will  be  found  substantially-  in^the  account  of  the  industries 
of  the  town  ahead}"  given. 

17.  The  Press. 

J.  M.  Stewart  of  the  Franklin  Register  replied  briefly,  as  the 
time  was  short :  — 

Mr.  Presidext  :  Yon  allow  me  eight  minutes  in  which  to  tell 
what  I  know  about  the  I'ress.  Ample  time,  sir  ;  although  I  must 
resort  to  one  of  the  methods  of  my  trade  and  ' '  boil  down  "  my 
paragraphs. 

The  editorial  field  is  as  extensive  as  the  world  we  live  upon. 
Some  few  editors  have  attempted  to  extend  its  boundaries,  so  as 
to  emiirace  other  worlds,  but  I  have  not  heard  that  they  have  met 
with  much  success,  except  when  dealing  with  facts  palpable,  or 
the  positive  discoveries  of  science.  As  a  rule,  however,  j'our 
hard-headed,  trained  editor  minds  his  own  business,  and  is  not 
much  given  to  abstruse  disquisitions,  which  maj'  make  men  wonder 
but  are  not  apt  to  enlighten  anybody'.  No  man  is  quicker  than  he 
to  catch  a  thing  that  has  a  tail  to  it ;  and  he  is  very  careful  to 
avoid  those  which  are  all  head  and  no  tail,  for  he  believes  in  bal- 
ancing things  bj-  natural  rules  ;  although  —  such  is  the  perversity 
of  readers  —  he  sometimes  finds  he  has  taken  a  bull  by  the  horns, 
and  the  danger  is  about  evenly  balanced  between  letting  go  or 
holding  on. 

Sir,  if  these  figures  of  rhetoric  seem  unseemly  at  this  time,  and 
in  this  presence,  please  read  my  meaning  •' between  the  lines." 
There  you  will  find  the  pith  of  the  whole  matter  —  the  ' '  sugar  in 
the  gourd,"  which  is  valuable  in  proportion  to  the  difficult}'  with 
which  it  is  gathered.  I  could,  were  I  so  disposed,  make  a  spread 
eagle  of  my  theme,  and  soar  away  into  the  empj'rean,  and  prob- 
ably amaze  some  one  here  ;  I  would  certainly  astonish  myself,  for 
I  am  not  used  to  that  sort  of  thing.  If  I  am  to  be  natural  I  must 
be  blnut  —  hit  hard  and  quick,  and  have  done  with  it.  Two  things 
also  warn  me  to  mind  my  own  particular  business,  now,  and  keep 
down  from  a  height  that  might  be  perilous  ;  the  flight  of  my  little 
time,  and  the  presence  above  this  vast  assemblage  —  which  I  seem 
to  realize  —  of  that  grand  old  man,  whose  name  our  town  bears, 
Franklin.     While  serenely  smiling  upon  these  festivities,  which  I 


ADDENDA.  221 

<ioubt  not  lie  enjoys  with  all  the  zest  of  an  ever  j'outhful  feeling, 
he  says  to  me  —  Few  words  are  best ;  don't  prose  ;  stick  to  the 
])oint,  and  stop  when  you  are  through  !  There,  sir,  in  aphoristic 
brevity  he  has  given  you  the  whole  duty  of  an  editor,  and,  by  im- 
plication, a  rule  for  tlie  editor's  particular  friends,  the  correspond- 
ents. For,  sir,  Franklin  once  was  an  editor — a  man  of  sorrows. 
It  is  the  pride  of  our  craft  to  sa}'  this,  although  he  fortunately  be- 
came, as  is  natural  to  the  craft,  a  philosopher,  but  in  his  earlj' 
years,  and  before  he  took  to  his  bed  to  die.  Happy  were  it  for 
"the  world  if  all  editors  might  be  Franklins  ;  most  happy  now, 
while  such  tremendous  social  and  political  upheavals  are  going  on 
all  over  the  earth.  That  old  gray  goose-quill,  that  never  penned 
a  useless  sentence,  would  make  a  safe  rudder  to  steer  our  nation's 
vessel  through  the  present  troubled  waters,  where  an  ounce  of 
good  sense  is  worth  a  ton  of  editorial  foll3'  and  haphazard  advice 
and  conjecture.  Think,  sir,  of  Franklin  writing  his  views  upon 
the  present  Congress ! 

But  I  forljear,  sir,  this  is  dangerous  ground.  Your  glance  warns 
me  that  my  time  is  up.  In  closing,  I  give  you  "  The  Memory  op 
Franklin,"  and  let  each  one  who  hears  me  round  off  for  himself 
the  toast  with  a  sentiment  of  his  own  choosing. 

The  skies,  which  had  once  during  the  services  vociferously 
showered  down  their  benedictions,  were  now  placidlj'  calm  and 
clear,  and  the  audience  reluctantlj'  lifted  the  closing  hj'mu  by  the 
poet  of  the  day. 

Come,  ere  we  part  for  other  scenes, 

The  wreath  of  friendshii)  twine; 
We'll  i)le(lge  each  other  here  to-day 

In  songs  of  "  Aulrl  Lang  Syne." 
The  fatliers  ne'er  shall  be  forgot; 

Their  deeds  heroic  shine ; 
Their  virtues  like  the  sun  illume 

The  days  of  "  Auld  Lang  Syne." 

Their  children  meet  and  part  again 

'Mid  blessings  all  divine; 
Perhaps  to  meet  no  more  below 

To  tell  of  "  Auld  Lang  Syne." 
Oh!  may  we  meet  when  time  is  o'er 

Beneath  the  Living  Vine, 
And  sing  with  those  we  loved  on  earth 

In  days  of  "  Auld  Lang  Syne." 

At  the  close  of  the  singing,  and  after  the  benediction,  the  ser- 
vices were  adjourned  for  one  hundred   years    and    the    audience 


222  HISTORY    OF   FRANKLIN. 

slowly  dwindled  in  joyous  aud  tearful  chattings  of  the  past,  as 
they  shook  pledged  hands  over  the  future  and  parted  for  the  pres- 
ent. It  was  a  roj-al,  blessed  day,  without  break  or  accident  to 
mar  its  success. 

THE   MUSEUM. 

The  museum  of  antiquities,  to  wliicli  allusion  has  been  made, 
was  in  the  capacious  chapel  in  the  rear  of  the  Congregational 
church.  Nearly  a  thousand  people  visited  it  during  the  day,  and 
it  was  opened,  at  a  small  entrance  fee,  for  two  succeeding  days. 
The  industry  and  success  of  the  ladies'  committee  in  gathering  so 
many  articles  struck  ever3'  one  as  remarkable. 

A  catalogue  was  carefully  made  by  Mrs.  W.  C.  Whiting,  from 
which  are  selected  some  of  the  rarer  specimens  of  ' '  ye  olden 
time  "  for  briefest  mention  :  — 

Foremost  was  the  old-time  kitchen,  arranged  bj'  Mrs.  A.  A. 
Fletcher,  with  andirons,  pot-hooks,  trammels  and  settle  complete. 

Bibles  and  books  of  all  ages,  from  an  illuminated  Roman  missal 
of  1485,  on  vellum,  a  black  letter  missal  bound  in  wood  and  vellum, 
clasped,  and  an  Elzevir  treatise  of  1G34,  b}' Rev.  Dr.  Chambre  ; 
a  series  of  manuscript  sermons  by  the  Wrentham  and  Franklin 
pastors,  complete  from  Messenger  to  Soutliworth  ;  a  file  of  alma- 
nacs to  1800. 

Of  household  utensils  were,  Mayflower  candlesticks,  by  Mrs. 
E.  K.  Ray  ;  an  hour-glass,  180  years  old  ;  a  wooden  castor,  by 
airs.  M.  Pherson  ;  a  brass  milk-pan  used  by  British  soldiers  in 
Boston,  by  Adin  Fisher ;  an  old  brass  clock  six  feet  high,  by  II. 
Bemis ;  China  sets,  platters,  etc.,  of  unknown  antiquity;  the 
brass  andirons  of  Dr.  Emmons'  study,  by  Mrs.  S.  Warfield  ;  tape 
loom  of  Mar^-  "Whiting,  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Wrentham  ; 
Nathaniel  Thayer's  settle,  123  years  old,  by  J.  F.  Ray;  cradle  of 
Dea.  Joseph  Whiting's  family,  bj'  Mrs.  W.  C.  Whiting ;  Rev.  C. 
Barnum's  and  Rev.  Dr.  Emmons'  stud}-  chairs  ;  a  copper  kettle 
from  Marblehead,  200  years  old,  by  L.  Howard  ;  spinning-wheels, 
and  a  four-wheeled  miniature  wagon  for  the  twins  of  1824,  made 
by  .John  King. 

Of  garments,  a  century-old  traveling-bag,  by  S.  Hubbard; 
buckskin  breeches,  manj-  pairs  ;  kid  slippers,  numberless  ;  Dr.  Em- 
mons' tri-cornered   hat,   and  the  first  jNIrs.  Emmons'  white  satin 


ADDENDA.  223 

bridal  shoes;  infants'  caps,  slips,  etc.,  iucluding  that  of  the  ora- 
tor of  the  day;  Dr.  Nathaniel  Miller's  wedding  vest — pea-green, 
satin  embroidered  ;  Dea.  Joseph  Whiting's  wig  and  leather-bowed 
spectacles  of  1750. 

Of  the  miscellanies  were  the  pitch-pipe  of  Anstin  Metcalf; 
the  sword  of  Capt.  Eben.  Dean,  grandfather  of  Dr.  O.  Dean  ; 
the  gun  and  accoutrements  of  James  Holbrook,  at  Saratoga,  bj- 
W.  Stanle_v ;  the  bell  of  the  first  Franklin  cow,  by  Dea.  AV.  C. 
"Whiting  ;  a  silver  brooch  of  Dr.  Ebenezer  Metcalf,  1745,  bj-  Ma- 
ria Fisher;  a  pillion  used  bj-  Govei'nor  AViuthrop's  famil}',  by  Mrs. 
Adams  Daniels  ;  the  noted  bear-trap  of  David  Gilmore  "on  the 
mount ; "  a  babj-'s  christening-dress  of  Ruth  Clark,  and  used  for 
that  service  hy  a  line  of  Ruths  until  to-day ;  an  ingenious  tablet 
of  Indian  relics,  arrows,  etc.,  by  W.  W.  Cowell,  of  Wrentham. 

jSIauy  portraits  and  silhouettes  of  Franklin's  former  worthies 
hung  around  the  walls,  and  the  rooms  of  the  chapel  were  filled  with 
portraits,  rarities  whose  description  would  fiU  a  large  volume. 
None  knew  the  town  was  so  rich  in  relics  of  the  fathers,  and  all 
felt  they  should  be  sacredly  treasured  by  the  town  in  a  fire-proof 
building  for  the  next  centennial. 

The  centennial  daj'  was  closed  by  a  vocal  concert  from  singers 
secured  from  aliroad.  in  aid  of  the  celebration  fund.  It  was 
largely  attended,  and  formed  an  appropriate  finale  to  the  mem- 
orable day. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTICES 


EARLIEST   FAMILIES    IN    FRANKLIN. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTICES. 


These  genealogical  notices  are  necessarily  brief  and  imperfect — 
brief  for  Tvant  of  space,  and  imperfect  because  they  have  been, 
most  of  them,  gathered  from  the  town  records  of  Wrentham  and 
Franklin  ( to  which  families  sometimes  neglected  to  make  re- 
turns) .  A  few,  like  those  of  the  Adams,  Pond  and  Richardson 
families,  have  been  compiled  from  published  genealogies,  and  may 
be  considered  complete  in  their  Franklin  l)ranches.  Our  research 
has  been  as  extensive  as  possible  in  the  time  in  tracing  the  other 
families.  Xo  doubt  a  longer  time  and  a  wider  coiTespondence  would 
have  given  a  richer  result.  But  a  genealogist  knows  that  j'ears 
must  be  consumed  on  one  full  family  register. 

We  have  only  aimed  by  these  few  notes  to  excite  an  interest  in 
our  townsmen  to  trace  their  family  lines  for  themselves.  We  have, 
therefore,  gone  rather  backward  than  forward,  that  they  might  find 
some  sure  starting  point  among  the  early  settlers  of  the  country'. 
But  they  are  brought  down  within  reach  of  the  present,  so  that 
those  disposed  can  easily  attach  their  own  families  to  their  proper 
ancestral  line.     Space  would  not  allow   our  coming  lower  down. 

It  were  utterly  out  of  the  compass  of  this  history  to  give  even 
the  briefest  genealogical  notice  of  all  the  present  dwellers  in  Frank- 
hn.  AVe  have,  therefore,  confined  our  notes  to  the  list  of  peti- 
tioners for  a  precinct,  as  given  on  page  25.  That  list  includes 
all  the  earliest  settlers  of  the  town.  If  any  regret  that  their  names 
do  not  find  a  place,  they  must  blame  their  ancestors  for  not  moving 
into  the  precinct  in  season.  It  should  be  added,  however,  that  the 
names  of  a  few  later  settlers  are  inserted  in  this  list  who  have  kindly 
furnished  ancestral  portraits  or  views  of  their  homesteads  for  the 
illustration  of  the  book.  To  such,  and  to  all  others,  we  are  grate- 
ful for  these  illustrations,  which  will  form,  to  some,  the  chief  at- 
traction of  the  volume. 

In  the  notices  followins,  the  uumliers  before   named  refer  back 


228  HISTORY   OF   FRANKLIN. 

to  the  same  number  in  the  family  line.  The  daughters  can  he 
traced,  when  married,  b}'  their  husband's  surname. 

Last!}',  if  the  dates  disagree  with  the  famih-  registers  in  the 
"  big  ha'  bible,"  please  refer  the  difference  to  the  errors  of  the 
town  records.     They  have  all  been  personally  and  carefully  copied. 

Any  corrections  will  be  gladlj'  accepted,  for  the  correcting  of 
the  author's  own  copy  and  possible  future  use. 

THE    ADAMS    FAMILY.* 

1.  John  Adams,  immigrant  ancestor,  born  in  1085  at  Credi- 
ton,  Devonshire,  England.  Seized  in  youth  by  a  press-gang  and 
forced  to  serve  as  caljin  boj-  on  a  man-of-war.  Escaped  at  Salem 
and  fled  to  Medfleld.  Recaptured,  he  again  escaped  and  hid  in 
Wrentham.  Afterwards  bought  and  settled  on  the  farm  now  oc- 
cupied by  Dea.  Peter  Adams.  AVas  a  weaver  by  trade.  He  mar- 
ried 24th  September,  1713,  Sarah,  daughter  of  John  and  Hannah 
Fairbank.  She  was  born  22d  March,  1696,  in  Wrentham,  and 
died  13th  Maj',  1754,  three  days  after  her  husband.  Their  chil- 
dren were :  2,  John,  born  18th  June,  1715 ;  married  Rachel 
Adams.  M.ary,  born  loth  March,  1716;  married  Jabes  Fisher. 
Sarah,  born  15th  February,  1718  ;  married  Matthew  Smith.  Han- 
nah, born  25th  March,  1721  ;  married  Michael  Metcalf.  3,  Peter, 
born  2d  February,  1722;  married  Esther  Ward.  Abigail,  born 
14th  February,  1725.  Ann,  born  7th  February,  1728.  Esther, 
born  8th  March,  1732.  Elizabeth,  born  14th  July,  1735  :  married 
Henry  Wilson,  of  Rowe.  The  last  four  children  probably  left 
town. 

2.  John,  "Ensign,"  lived  at  "  Nason's  Crossing."  His  farm 
included  the  present  Common.  He  died  30th  May,  1793.  His 
wife  Rachel,  born  1715;  died  2d  April,  1789.  Their  children 
were:  Timothy,  born  6th  February,  1742;  married  Jemima 
Thayer,  of  Mendon.  Parents  and  four  children  all  died  30ung, 
and  one  stone  in  the  Franklin  cemetery  now  covers  the  whole 
family.  4,  Thaddeus,  born  13th  June,  1745 ;  married  Rachel 
Lawrence.  5,  John,  born  1748  ;  married  Naomi  Pratt.  6,  Na- 
thaniel, bom  17th  August,  1751  ;  married  first  Hannah  Fisher, 
second  Zebia  CoUock.  7,  William,  born  1755  ;  married  Elizabeth 
AVhiting.     Rachel,  born  11th  March,  1758;  married  Asa  Fisher. 

•  From  a  Genealogy  compiled  by  Gardner  Adams. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTICES.  229 

3.  Peter  lived  on  the  homestead  ;  died  12th  March,  1802.  His 
wife,  Esther,  born  17th  February,  1732;  died  11th  November, 
1800.  Their  children  were:  Jemima,  born  IGth  March,  1752; 
married  Jesse  Robbins.  Joel,  born  21st  Juh',  1753  ;  married 
Jemima  Robbins.  Mollv,  died  young.  Peter,  born  24th  Febru- 
ary, 1758  ;  died  27th  .September,  1778,  in  the  Revolutionary  War. 
Euuiee,  born  24th  February,  1760;  married  Calvin  Metcalf  and 
went  to  AVinthrop,  Me.  8,  Ward,  born  28th  November,  1762  ; 
married  Olivia  Daggett.  Junia,  died  j'oung.  Esther,  born  15th 
Julj',  1767;  married  Eli  Taft,  and  went  to  Upton.  9,  James, 
born  6th  Ma}-,  1709  ;  married  first  Sarah  Bacon,  second  Lucy 
Fairbank.  Apollus,  died  young.  10,  Nehemiah,  born  11th  Jan- 
uar}',  1773;  married  Mary  Clark;  removed  to  Union,  Me.  Je- 
mima and  Joel  also  went  to  Union,  Me. 

4.  Thaddeus  bought  and  lived  on  the  present  town  farm  ;  he 
died  28th  June,  1827.  Ilis  wife,  Rachel,  daughter  of  Ebenezer 
Lawrence  ;  born  24th  February-,  1751  ;  died  27th  September,  1823. 
Their  children:  Lucinda,  born  5th  October,  1771  ;  married  Joseph 
Gilmore,  Abigail,  born  12tli  May,  1773;  married  Abadiah  A. 
Tha^'er,  and  went  to  West  Wrentham.  Thaddeus,  born  22d  June, 
1775  ;  married  Peggy  Orcutt,  and  went  to  Brewer,  Me.  Rachel, 
born  25th  October,  1777 ;  married  Seneca  Aldrich,  and  left  town. 
Timothy,  born  19th  March,  1781  ;  married  Betsey  Payson,  and 
went  to  Bucksport,  Me.  11,  Alpheus,  born  22d  December,  1785  ; 
married  Achsa  Partridge. 

5.  John,  removed  to  Walpole,  N.  H.,  where  his  youngest  child 
was  born  ;  he  died  in  August,  1836.  His  first  wife,  Naomi  Pratt, 
Medtield  ;  died  1793;  he  married  second  Eunice  Moulton,  and 
third  Elizabeth  Stearns  ;  he  died  Ma}-,  1851  ;  he  had  sixteen  chil- 
dren ;  three  onh'  remained  in  town,  viz.  :  Sally,  born  25th  Janu- 
ar}-,  1772;  married  Jonathan  Hawes.  Eunice  (b^- second  wife) 
born  7th  January,  1795;  married  Fisher  Daniels.  Lois,  born 
26th  June,  1797;  married  Jeremiah  Claflin. 

6.  Nathaniel  was  in  the  Revolution,  called  "  Captain,"  lived 
and  kept  a  store  on  Davis  Thayer's  Corner.  In  1815  removed  to 
Providence,  and  died  in  1834.  His  wife,  Hannah  Fisher,  died  9th 
April,  1790  ;  married,  second,  Zebia  Collock.  One  child  onlj- staid 
in  town,  Hannah,  born  8th  April,  1781  ;  married  Bela  Cleveland. 

7.  William  lived  at  "  Nason's  Crossing,"  was  noted  as  "  Uncle 


230  HISTORY   OF   FRANKLIN. 

Bill."  He  died  28th  March,  1828.  His  wife  died  in  1833.  Chil- 
dren were :  Betsej',  born  20th  August,  1 783  ;  married  lehabod 
Dean.  Amos,  born  15th  Xovember,  1785;  married  first  Betsey 
Follett,  second  Mrs.  Sally  B.  Partridge  ;  removed  to  Medway. 
William,  born  11th  March,  1789;  married  Mar3^  Fisher,  and  re- 
moved to  Medway.     Whiting,  born  22d  March,  1793. 

8.  Ward,  died  25th  October,  1792;  wife  died  1788;  had  one 
child,  Ebenezer  Ward,  born  23d  July,  1787;  married  Mima, 
daughter  of  Joel  Adams,  and  removed  to  Union,  Me. 

9.  James,  deacon  and  justice  of  the  peace,  lived  on  the  home- 
stead. He  died  IGth  April,  1830  ;  first  wife  died  1806  ;  second 
wife,  Lucy  F.,  born  19th  July,  1789  ;  died  1st  July,  1878.  Children 
by  first  wife:  Chloe  Fales,  born  1st  January,  1797;  married  Jo- 
seph A.  Metcalf  and  removed  to  Winthrop,  Me.  Thomas  Bacon, 
born  16th  January,  1799  ;  married  Elizabeth  Adams,  of  Read- 
field,  Me.,  and  removed  to  Maine.  James,  Rev.,  born  21st  Octo- 
ber, 1800.  (See  biographical  sketches.)  By  second  wife.  Sarah 
Bacon,  born  27th  June,  1809  ;  married  Rev.  E.  W.  Robinson. 
(See  biographical  sketches.)  12,  Peter,  born  3d  April,  1811  ; 
married  Clarissa  D.  Richardson.  Lucy  Maria.  Ijorn  19th  March, 
1817;  married  James  Bigelow,  ofBoj'lston. 

10.  Nehemiah,  removed  to  Union,  Me.,  but  previously  had 
three  children  in  Franklin.  He  died  14th  December,  1854.  His 
wife,  of  Medfield,  died  14th  April,  1821.  His  only  son  in  town, 
AVard,  born  23d  November,  1798,  married  Hannah  Bl.ike.  He 
died  27th  October,  1865. 

11.  Alpheus,  lived  on  the  home  farm  till  he  sold  it  to  the  town 
for  the  poor;  went  to  Nashua,  N.  H.,  in  1836,  but  returned  in 
1846  and  died  in  town,  9th  Januarj-,  1852.  His  wife,  Achsa, 
daughter  of  Simon  and  Achsa  (Metcalf)  Partridge,  born  4th 
March,  1787,  died  25th  January,  1868.  Their  children  were: 
Albert,  born  22d  December,  1807  ;  married  first  Mary  C.  Daniels, 
s3cond  Sophronia  Heald,  third  Susan  D.  White  ;  had  seven  chil- 
dren. Simeon  Partridge,  born  16th  November,  1809  ;  married 
Harriet  B.  Wood.  Emerson,  born  5th  December,  1812;  mar- 
ried Abigail  Blake  and  removed  to  Sherboni.  Gardner,  born 
2d  April,  1818  ;  married  Eunice  R.  Darling.  Erastus,  born  22d 
January,  1821  ;  married  first  Mary  G.  Powell,  second  Lucetta  A. 
Harvev.     Achsa   Metcalf,    born    2d   November,    1824  ;    married 


GENEALOGICAL  NOTICES.  231 

Merrill  E.  Carter,  and  lives  in  Sj'racuse,  N.  Y.  Of  this  family 
onl}-  thirteen  now  reside  in  town. 

12.  Peter,  deacon,  lives  on  the  ancestral  farm,  and  has  chil- 
dren :  James  Francis,  born  2d  Januarj-,  1842  ;  married  Mar^-  A., 
daughter  of  Lucj"  M.  Bigelow.  Abbj*  Maria,  born  31st  Jamiarj', 
1855.  Herbert,  born  28th  October,  1857.  Charles  E.  was  killed 
in  Sheridan's  campaign,  near  Winchester,  Va.,  and  four  children 
died  j'oung. 

The  descendants  of  ' '  Ensign  "  John  and  Peter  Adams  counted 
in  1874,  924,  and  of  John,  the  immigrant,  1,814  persons  ;  number 
of  marriages,  358.  Less  than  a  score  now  of  the  Adams  family 
live  in  Franklin. 

THE   ALLEN   FAJIILT. 

The  first  of  this  name  in  town  was  Abijah,  a  native  of  Natick, 
who  came  from  Dover  just  before  the  incorporation  of  the  town. 
His  first  child,  Samuel,  was  the  first  birth  after  that  event.  He 
married  Abigail  Maxcy  17th  .June.  1777.  His  children  were: 
Samuel,  born  15th  March,  1778.  Marj',  born  16th  December, 
1779.  Abigail  and  Maxcj',  twins;  both  died  j-oung.  Marena, 
born  12th  May,  1787.  Abijah,  born  27th  May,  1789.  Cjtus, 
born  29th  Ma}',  1793.  Alfred,  born  2oth  September,  1797  ;  died 
3d  March,  1825.  Samuel  married  Sarah  W.  Aldis,  and  had  Aldis, 
born  13th  November,  1803.  (See  biographical  sketches.)  He 
married,  second,  Jubetta  Metcalf,  of  Franklin,  and  removed  to 
Medwaj-  Vill.,  where  he  was  chosen  deacon  of  the  Congi-egational 
church,  and  had  other  children  born  there.  Cyrus  married  Sarah 
Bacon  4th  October,  1825,  and  had :  Marena,  born  10th  Septem- 
ber, 1826.  George,  born  6th  April,  1828.  Cmis  Milton,  born 
6th  June,  1831.     Thomas  Bacon,  born  7tb  October,  1836. 

Another  Allen  family  in  the  north  part  of  the  town  is  of  a  diffei'^ 
ent  ancestry. 

THE    BACON    FAMILY. 

The  immigrant,  according  to  Savage,  was  Michael.  He  came 
from  Ireland  to  Dedham  with  his  wife  and  four  children,  Michael, 
Daniel,  John  and  Sarah.  He  died  winter  of  1647-8.  John 
married  Rebeka,  and  had  John.  Rebeka,  married  John  Gaj'. 
Daniel,  Samuel.  2,  Thomas.  Marj*.  married  Nathaniel  Kings- 
burv ;    and    Susanna,  married  Jonathan  Dewing.     He  died  17th 


232  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

June,  1683.    His  widow  died  27tli  October,  1694.     Of  this  line  is 
Rev.  Dr.  L.  B.icon.  of  New  Haven. 

2.  Tliomas  settled  in  Wrentham,  and  his  familj^  is  recorded 
there.  He  married  Hannah  Fales,  and  had  seven  children  :  3, 
Thomas,  born  26th  November,  1693.  Hannah,  born  25th  April, 
1697;  married  Robert  Pond.  James,  born  28th  October,  1700. 
Martha,  born  8th  October,  1703  ;  married  John  Shepard.  .Jacob, 
born  9th  Septemlier,  1706.  (First  preacher  in  the  West  precinct.) 
John,  born  22d  April,  1710.     Sarah,  died  j-oung. 

3.  Thomas,  Jr.,  married  Deborah  ,  and  had:     Kezia, 

born  7th  June,  1725  ;  married  Robert  Blake.    4,  Thomas,  Deborah, 
Samuel,  and  Rebecca. 

4.  Thomas,  3d,  Captain.  Performed  good  ser\-ice  in  the  Revo- 
lution. He  had,  by  his  wife  L3-dia  Pond,  ten  children.  One  only 
son,  Amos,  of  whom  we  know  no  more. 

The  Franklin  line  of  Bacons  is  traceable  no  further  back  than 
Seth.  He  married  Abigail  Whiting  3d  June,  1762,  and  had  five 
children  :  .Joseph,  born  19th  June,  1763.  Theophilus,  died  at  17 
j'ears.  Sarah,  horn  13th  March,  1768.  3,  Thomas,  born  16th 
May,  1771.     Abigail,  born  12th  June,  1774. 

2.  Joseph  married  Ruth  Heaton  17th  January,  1804.  Chosen 
deacon  of  Franklin  church  1st  .January,  1806,  and  died  6th  May, 
1843.  They  had  :  4,  Joseph  Thomas,  born  14th  February,  1808  ; 
married  Mary  Ann  Metcalf ;  and  Delia  Emmons,  born  28th  Feb- 
ruarj',  1815  ;  married  Samuel  Metcalf,  Jr. 

3.  Thomas  married  26th  April,  1796,  Ruth  Adams,  and  had 
Sally,  born  23d  August,  1797,  who  married  Cyrus  Allen.  On  his 
sudden  death,  loth  May,  1799,  his  widow  Ruth  man-ied  Joseph 
Whiting,  3d. 

4.  Joseph  T.  was  deacon  of  the  Franklin  church,  chosen  loth 
October,  1835.  He  was  gored  by  a  bull,  of  which  he  died  in  the 
past  spring.  His  wife  died  soon  after.  Thej-  had  :  Abby  Mi- 
randa ;  married  Dea.  E.  E.  Baker.  Thomas  Metcalf,  George,  and 
Ellen. 

THE    BAKER   FAMILY.* 

1.  Richard,  immigrant  in  Dorchester,  1639;  married  Faith, 
daughter  of  Henry  Withington,  and  had  at  least  two  sons  and  six 

*  From  a  Genealogy  compiled  by  Edward  Baker,  Dorchester. 


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GENEALOGICAL   NOTICES.  233 

daughters;  he  died  SSth  October,  1G89.  His  son,  2,  John,  mar- 
ried Preserved,  daughter  of  Thomas  Trott,  and  had  ten  children. 
He  died  26th  August,  1690.  His  son,  3,  Abijah,  posthumous, 
born  25th  Februarj-,  1691  ;  married  Hannah  Jones,  and  settled  in 
Franklin  south  of  Beaver  Pond  ;  he  died  31st  December,  1761. 
His  son,  4,  Abijah,  born  loth  October,  1718;  married  Esther 
Smith;  he  died  27th  September,  1780.  His  son,  5,  Abijah,  born 
11th  August,  1749  ;  married  March,  1775,  Esther  Parker  ;  she  died 
12th  Ma_y.  1795  ;  and  he  married  17th  April,  1790,  Phebe  Boydeu  ; 
she  died  19th  November,  1821  :  he  died  19th  April,  1824.  A 
view  of  the  Baker  homestead  near  the  center  of  the  town  is  in- 
serted ;  Dea.  E.  E.  Baker  now  occupies  it.  The  children  of  Abi- 
jah and  Esther  were  :  Esther,  born  2oth  September,  1779  ;  mar- 
ried John  Warfleld,  whose  grandson  is  Rev.  F.  A.  Warfield,  pastor 
of  the  Union  church,  in  Boston.  David,  born  5th  June,  1782. 
Anna,  born  5th  June,  1786;  died  unmarried  2d  Maj',  1864.  6, 
David,  captain ;  town  clerk ;  married,  first,  Jemima,  daughter  of 
Elisha  and  Abigail  (Lawrence)  Richardson ;  she  died  26th  July, 
1845  ;  married,  second,  Lucj-  F.  Peny  of  Holliston,  who  died  13th 
August,  1874;  he  died  11th  October,  1861. 

Captain  Baker  was  especially  well  known  as  a  clerk  of  the  town 
for  many  years.  In  his  day  it  was  the  custom  to  crj-all  intentions 
of  marriage  on  three  pulilic  occasions,  and  his  clear  voice  from  his 
pew  in  the  meeting-house  at  the  beginning  of  the  Sunday  after- 
noon sen-ice  made  man}"  a  youth  and  maiden  hang  their  heads  as 
it  published  aloud  their  often  unsuspected  engagements.  Many 
who  endured  this  exposure  will  recognize  the  familiar  face  of 
Captain  Baker  in  the  portrait  following  this  brief  familj-  notice. 
On  the  election  of  Davis  Thayer,  Jr.,  as  town  clerk,  the  imme- 
morial usage  was  exchanged  for  the  milder  form  of  a  posted  notice. 
But  Captain  Baker  was  yet  better  known  as  an  energetic  and  pub- 
lic-spirited citizen,  a  faithful  father  and  a  decided  Christian  man. 

Captain  Baker  had  six  children  :  Abijah  Richardson.  (See 
biographical  sketches.)  Charlotte,  married  Rev.  Asa  Hixon. 
(See  biographical  sketches.)  Abigail,  married  Hon.  M.  P.  Wilder. 
(See  biographical  sketches.)  Jemima  Jane,  married  Daniel  H. 
Forbes  of  Westboro  ;  school-teacher  in  Charlestown,  Mass.  David 
Parker,  married  Lois  Angenette  Green  of  Franklin.  Julia,  mar- 
ried Hon.  M.  P.  Wilder.     (See  biographical  sketches.)     Erastus 


234  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

Emmons,  "  Deacou  ;  "  married  Abbj-  M.,  daughter  of  Dea.  Joseph 
T.  Bacon  of  Franklin  ;  his  son,  David  Erastus.  (See  biographi- 
cal sketches.) 

THE    BLAKE    FAMILY. 

The  branch  of  this  widely-spread  family  which  settled  in  Frank- 
lin descended  from  llobert,  although  the  posterity'  of  John  appears 
in  town.  Robert  is  believed  to  have  been  an  original  immigrant, 
as  a  research  of  manj-  ^-ears  has  not  linked  him  with  any  other 
Blakes  in  the  country.  But  man}-  facts  point  to  Taunton,  P^ngland, 
as  the  habitat  of  his  family,  and  to  a  connection  with  Cromwell's 
famous  sea-king.  Admiral  Robert,  and  with  Sarah,  one  of  the 
earliest  settlers  of  South  CaroUna.  Information  is  invited  by  the 
author. 

1.  Robert  was  born  1675,  married  7th  January.  1703.  Sarah, 
daughter  of  John  and  Sarah  Guild,  of  Wrentham.  He  bought  the 
farm  on  the  east  side  of  Blake's  Pond(since  miscalled  Archer's)  and 
built  his  house  on  the  crown  of  the  hill,  parts  of  which  entered  into 
the  present  dwelling  there,  "When  he  cleared  the  forest,  he  left 
the  old  oak  now  standing  by  the  wayside,  which  "  was  called  the 
old  oak,"  his  grandson  Philip  said,  •'  by  the  old  people  when  he  was 
a  boy,"  He  died  4th  October,  1735,  aged  60,  His  widow  manned, 
30th  March,  173.S.  Nathaniel  Perry.  She  died  30th  July,  1757, 
The}'  had  ten  children, 

Bette  married  Benjamin  Hall.  Sarah  married  first  Thomas 
Fisher,  second  James  Newe,  2,  Robert,  born  22nd  December, 
1707.  3,  Josiah,  ))orn  4th  March,  1710,  Nathan,  born  13th 
March,  1712,  Ezra,  born  12th  May,  1714,  Hepzibah,  married 
Capt,  Benjamin  Shepard  of  Wrentham,  Obadiah.  born  9th  June. 
1719.  Esther,  married  David  Jones  and  removed  to  Abington, 
Elijah,  born  13th  October,  1723,  The  ages  of  these  ten  children 
summed  up  nearly  nine  hundred  years,  three  of  them  attaining  to 
a  centur}-. 

Nathan,  Sarah  and  Obadiah  removed  to  Keene,  N.  H.  Nathan 
was  the.  first  settler  there  ;  spent  the  first  winter  alone  and  built 
the  first  house  in  Ashuelot,  as  then  called.  He  was  captured  by 
the  Indians,  April,  1746.  and  taken  to  Canada,  where  he  was  made 
a  chief  for  his  prowess  and  inventiveness,  but  was  finally  exchanged 
and  returned  to  Keene.  Obadiah  had  been  a  physician  in  Wrent- 
ham, and  became  the  first  doctor  in  Keene  on  his  settlement  there. 


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Heliotype  Printiti^  Co.,  220  Devonshire  Street,  Boston. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTICES.  235 

2.  Robert,  Captain,  married  Keziah,  daughter  of  Thomas  and 
Deborah  Thurston.  He  died  22d  December,  1«00,  aged  93.  She 
died  19th  April,  1794.  They  have  onl^' two  children  recorded: 
Keziah,  born  29th  October,  1743.    4,  Robert,  born  14th  July.  1749. 

3.  Josiah,  Ensign  ;  married  Martha,  daughter  of  Joseph  and 
Martha  Cowell.  He  died  26th  February,  1795,  aged  85.  8he 
■died  8th  Februar}-,  1772.  They  had  seven  children:  Abigail, 
married  David  Holbrook.  Josiah.  born  15th  October,  1742  ;  mar- 
ried Margaret  Druce.  Nathan,  born  6th  July,  1744;  married 
Marj'  Day  and  removed  to  Union,  Me.  5,  Philip,  born  6th  March, 
1746.  Martha,  married  Abijah  Wilder.  Hephsibah,  unmarried, 
and  a  celebrated  midwife  within  a  circuit  of  forty  miles  from 
Wrentham. 

4.  Robert,  married  11th  October,  1770,  Eunice  Bordin.  He 
lived  in  Wrentham  and  died  there  8th  November,  1776.  She 
■died  11th  January,  1816.  They  had  three  children:  Chloe,  born 
1st  June,  1773.  Calvin,  born  17th  December,  1774.  6,  Rob- 
ert, born  1st  Januarj',  1777. 

5.  Philip,  deacon  of  Wrentham  church,  removed  to  Franklin 
about  1790  and  bought  a  farm  of  John  Adams.  He  married,  first, 
Sarah,  daughter  of  Elijah  and  Sarah  (Morse)  Allen  of  Medfield, 
who  died  24th  May.  1795  ;  second,  Beriah  Lawrence,  who  died  23d 
May,  1828  ;  third.  Widow  Olive  Whiting,  of  Wrentham.  He  died 
16th  December,  1836  at  over  90.  He  had  ten  children  by  his  first 
wife,  of  whom  only  five  reached  maturity  :  Patty  (or  Martha) 
married  Eli  Messenger  of  AVrentbam  and  removed  to  Pawtucket, 
R.  I.  Josiah,  born  16th  April,  1782,  removed  to  Rockville  and 
became  deacon  of  the  East  Medway  church.  Sarah,  married 
Henry  Campbell,  of  Oxford,  and  removed  there.  Hepzibah,  mar- 
ried Asa  Fuller  and  resided  in  North  Franklin.  Their  son,  New- 
ell, lives  on  their  homestead.  Asa  Metcalf  B.  is  a  prominent 
citizen  of  AVest  Medway.     7,  Ira,  born  19th  October,  1790. 

6.  Robert,  married  11th  April,  1799,  Abigail  Blake.  He  died 
22d  December,  1800  ;  she  died  3d  January,  1833.  They  had  nine 
children:  Austin,  born  3d  March,  1800.  Robert,  Jr.,  born  4th 
March,  1802.  Herman  R.  (not  recorded.)  Roxana,  born  28th 
October,  1805.  Joel  Nelson,  born  12th  May,  1807.  Stephen 
Mann,  born  1st  January,  1811.     Lewis,  born  11th  January,  1812. 


236  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

Abigail,  bom  9th  June,  181G.  Charles  Fisher,  bom  24th  Febru- 
ar3',  1818.     Caroline,  born  13th  February-,  1820. 

7.  Ira.  Went  to  Pittston,  Me.,  where  he  married  Laura, 
daughter  of  Capt.  Augustus  and  Chloe  (Fisk)  Motvuj,  of  Putney, 
Vt.  ;  returned  to  Franklin  in  1817,  and  lived  upon  the  homestead. 
He  died  20th  September,  1848  ;  she  died  1st  October,  1867.  They 
had  seven  children:  Mortimer.  (See  graduates.)  Sarah,  Au- 
gustus Mowry,  Hves  in  New  Loudon,  Conn.  Laura  Matilda, 
married  William  Roekwood.     Oramel  Bradley  on  the  homestead. 

Other  Blakes,  residents  in  town,  have  been :  Solomon  from 
Wrentham,  who  settled  on  the  Mt.  Hope  road  and  had  Solomon, 
Jr.  This  family  has  entirely  left  town.  Abraham,  Jr.,  also  from 
Wrentham,  represented  now  by  Alvin  Blake,  and  David  Partridge 
Blake,  who  married  Polly,  daughter  of  Elihu  Pond.  Some  of  his 
family  live  in  the  northern  part  of  the  town.  But  the  name  has 
mostly  disappeared. 

THE    CLAKK    FAMILY. 

The  Clarks  of  Franklin  are  traced  to  Jonathan  and  Experience- 
of  Wrentham,  who  had  eight  children,  of  whom  — 

1.  John,  the  eldest,  born  22d  October,  1725  ;  married,  16th 
January,  17.52,  Ruth  Baxter,  and  had  eight  children.  2,  Abijah,, 
born  4th  March,  1755;  married  Melatiah  Pond.  Susanna,  bora 
30th  Jul}-,  1757;  mamed  Nathaniel  Thayer.  Ruth,  born  14th' 
June,  17G0;  married  Asa  Metcalf.  Mary,  born  22d  December,. 
1762  ;  married  Levi  Fisher.  Nathan,  born  2Gth  November,  1705  ;. 
married  Subra  Metcalf.     Sarah,  born  7th  May,  1768.     3,  Paul, 

born  26th  October,  1770;  married  Phebe .     Rachel,  born 

12th  November,  1772  ;  married  Nathan  Pond. 

2.  Abijah  and  Melatiah  (Pond)  had  three  children :  Abijah, 
born  5th  April,  1785.  Melatiah,  born  26th  November,  1792,  and 
died  11th  October,  1804.  Lois,  born  2d  January,  1796  ;  married 
Hiram  Knapp,  20th  May,  1813. 

3.  Paul,  married  Phebe ,  and  had  four  children  :  Melinda, 

born  2d  October,  1798,  and  died  6th  July,  1800.  Daniel  Pen- 
niman,  born  3d  May,  1801,  and  died  27th  Januarj",  1805.  Mar}', 
born  6th  May,  1805  ;  married,  13th  April,  1826,  Adin  Fisher. 
Paul  Baxter,  born  14th  October,  1807  ;  deacon  South  Franklin 
church.      (For  his  portrait  see  Centennial  Committee,  plate  2.) 


-w^^^!^^^^/^  ^e.  //; 


U^^y?^!^ 


GENEALOCxICAL    NOTICES.  237 

By  another  line  of  imreeordod  ancestry  :  — 

1.  Dj-ar  and  Rachel  Clark.  He  died  8th  September,  1807. 
She  died  16th  June,  1818.  Their  children  were:  Pamela,  born 
19th  February,  170-1;  married  Levi  Ilawcs.  Ezekiel,  born  13th 
April,  1766.  Elizabeth,  born  28th  January,  1769,  and  died  31st 
August.  1795.  2,  D}-er,  Jr.,  born  7th  December,  1769.  R.achel, 
born  10th  February,  1772;  married  Luther  Cobb,  of  Belling- 
hain  (?).  Elizabeth,  born  11th  February,  1774,  and  died  31st 
August,  1795.  Hannah,  baptized  31st  June,  1776  ;  married  Jesse 
Nason  of  AValpole.  Franklin,  born  8th  March,  1778.  3,  Nathan, 
born  28th  January,  1781. 

Jesse  Nason,  born  21st  February,  1776  ;  removed  to  Franklin 
after  his  marriage,  where  he  died  24th  Maj-,  1845.  His  wife  died 
27th  December,  1856.  Thej"  had  four  children  :  Laura,  born  28th 
December,  1800 ;  died  4th  July,  1855  ;  unmarried.  Elizabeth 
Clark,  born  15th  February',  1802  ;  married  flrst  Preston  Wood- 
"ward,  second  Ira  Haywood.  George  Warren,  liorn  11th  January, 
1806;  married  first  Hannah  Pond,  second  Peac}-  B.  Cook;  he 
■died  9th  November,  1868.     And  an  infant. 

George  W.  bad  six  sons,  four  of  whom  were  volunteers  in  the 
Union  armj'  against  the  rebellion,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  list  of 
soldiers.  They  have  furnished  a  portrait  of  their  father,  inserted 
opposite. 

Mr.  Nason  was  a  well-known  and  widely-regarded  citizen,  an 
early  member  of  the  Congregational  church,  and  noted  for  strong 
and  tender  feelings,  great  generosity  to  the  poor  and  enthusiasm 
in  every  good  work,  especially  of  temperance,  which  sometimes 
cai-ried  him  bej'ond  his  cooler  after-judgment.  He  was  greath' 
instrumental  in  securing  the  location  of  the  railroad  through 
Franklin.  He  was  twice  elected  member  of  the  State  Legislature, 
and  for  thirty  years  occupied  some  important  municipal  office.  He 
was  also  deputj-  sheritl'  of  the  county  for  manj-  jears.  His  funeral 
was  attended  b^-  fuUj'  2,000  persons,  and  he  was  buried  with 
Masonic  honors.  The  county  newspaper  of  the  day  said,  "no 
man  in  Norfolk  county  will  be  missed  more  than  Mr.  Nason." 

2.  Dj-er,  Jr.,  married  10th  July,  1793,  Nancy  Day.  They  had 
seven  children,  of  whom  two  died  young  :  Nancy,  born  24th  Jan- 
uary, 1794.  Laura,  born  19th  May,  1799;  married  Joseph  Bul- 
lard,  of  Medway.    Adaline,  born  9th  August,  1801.    Mary  Hawes, 


238  HISTORY   OF    FRANKLIN. 

born  9tli  Februaiy,  1807,  and  married Williams,  of  Grant- 

ville.     William  Emerson,  born  2d  September,  1808, 

3.  Nathan  and  Nancy  (Payson)  Clark  had  eleven  children: 
Sallj',  born  3d  October,  1802.  Nathan,  Jr.,  born  23d  July,  1804. 
Ezekiel  Hall,  born  24th  October,  1806.  Horatio  Kingsbury,  born 
2d  August,  1808.  Theron  Edmund,  born  24th  December,  1810. 
Nancy,  born  27th  December,  1812  ;  married  27th  October,  1831, 
to  Philander  Gilmore.  Charles  Willard,  born  2oth  September, 
1815.  Dyar  Gilbert,  died  young.  Alfred,  born  18th  July,  1819. 
Gilbert,  born  30th  December,  1822.  (See  biographical  sketches.) 
Abigail  Hawes,  born  3d  March,  1825. 

Bj'  still  another  Wrentham  line,  but  unconnected,  came  :  — 

1.  Benjamin  and  Judith  (Metcalf)  Clark;  married  29th  April, 
1741.  Had:  2,  Samuel,  born  23d  Maj',  1743.  Benjamin,  born 
15th  June,  1745.     Susanna,  born  27th  August,  1747. 

2.  Samuel  marrted  Esther  Jones.  He  died  17th  January,  1822. 
They  had  :  Benjamin,  born  4th  November,  1771.  Susanna,  born 
IGth  November,  1773  ;  niarried  Levi  Fisher.  Betty,  born  6th  De- 
cember, 1775.  Paul,  born  27th  February,  1778.  3,  Samuel,  Jr., 
born  4tli  December,  1782.     Olive,  born  25th  .Januarj-,  1785. 

3.  Samuel,  Jr.,  and  Hannah had  :     Erastus,  born  27th 

November,  1809  ;    and  Mary,  born  19th  August,  1814  ;    married 
Smith  Fisher,  late  postmaster. 

Ebenezer  Clark,  whose  name  appears  as  petitioner  for  the  pre- 
cinct in  1738,  left  no  descendant  here  as  we  can  discover.  He 
married  15th  Februarj-,  1721,  Anna  Fisher,  of  Wrentham,  and 
had  nine  children,  of  whom  Levi,  born  19th  April,  1734,  was  the 
only  surviving  son.  Of  him  no  further  mention  is  made,  neither 
of  the  marriage  of  the  three  daughters  —  Experience,  Achsah  and 
Jerusha. 

THE    DANIELS    FAMILY. 

The  immigrant  ancestor,  Joseph,  first  appears  in  Medfleld 
among  the  subscribers  "  towards  building  a  new  coUedge  at  Cam- 
bridge" in  1678. 

Joseph,  Jr.,  his  son,  married  Bethiah,  and  had  six  children: 
Samuel,  Joseph,  David,  Hannah,  Ezra  and  Sarah. 

David,  born  1699,  married  Magdalen,  and  had  Seth  and  other 
children.  He  died  19th  November,  1781,  at  82.  She  died  13th 
October,  1780. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTICES.  239 

Seth,  born  30th  October,  1737,  married  Unite,  daughter  of  Dea. 
Daniel  and  Elizabeth  Thurston,  of  Franklin.  He  occupied  the 
farm  and  house  afterwards  of  his  grandson,  J^isher  Daniels,  and  a 
view  of  which  is  given  opposite  as  it  was  sketched  bj'  M.  Blake 
some  thirty  _years  ago.  The  house  has  been  removed  further  south 
and  converted  into  a  tenement-house.  He  died  lOth  Novem- 
ber, 1785,  aged  nearly  48.  She  died  16th  October,  1821,  aged 
73.  They  had  four  children:  .Julia,  died  at  1(1.  Josepli,  born 
14th  October,  1771.  Susanna  married  .Job  Carpenter,  and  died 
early.    .Julia  second  wife  of  Job  Carpenter,  and  removed  to  Sutton. 

.Joseph  married  Susan,  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Susa  Fisher,  4th 
September,  1793.  He  lived  on  tlie  homestead,  where  he  also  kept 
a  small  store,  and  raised  a  family  of  thirteen  children.  He  died 
I'Jth  July,  1828.  She  died  17th  February,  1829.  Their  children 
were  :  Seth,  born  14th  September,  1794  ;  married  Huldah  Harris  ; 
removed  to  Oxford ;  was  deacon  of  the  Congregational  church, 
and  died  22d  February,  1878.  Fisher,  born  2d  August,  1796; 
married  first  Eunice  Adams,  second  Ann  Eames,  of  Hopkiuton, 
and  died  10th  March,  1874.  He  was  a  school-teacher  in  winter 
for  manj'  years.  His  portrait  is  given  on  the  following  page.  Julia 
Maria,  born  4th  August,  1798  ;  married  Philo  Thurston,  and  re- 
moved to  Union.  Me.;  died  there  20th  December,  1869.  Unit}' 
Myra,  born  17th  August,  1800  ;  married  Rev.  J.  R.  Cushing.  (See 
biographical  sketches.)  Albert  Earlj',  born  25th  September,  1802  ; 
married  Olive,  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Deborah  Hills.  He  has 
been  an  extensive  straw  bonnet  manufacturer,  and  filled  manj' 
public  offices.  He  resides  in  the  house  formerlj-  built  by  Rev.  E. 
Smalley  during  his  pastorate.  Caroline  Melita,  born  24th  Octo- 
ber. 1804  ;  married  Fisher  A.  Kingsbury,  and  died  31st  December, 
1854.  Willis  George,  born  22d  October,  1806.  (See  biographical 
sketches.)  Susan  Fisher,  born  6th  October.  1808  :  married  Albert 
Cleveland,  and  died  6th  February,  1834.  Hiram  Abitf,  born  30th 
October,  1810,  and  removed  to  Amoskeag,  N.  H.  Martha  Car- 
penter, born  9th  March,  1813  ;  married  .John  W.  Mason,  of  Bos- 
ton, and  died  3d  June.  1845.  Darwin  Joseph,  born  12th  -January, 
1815  ;  became  Mayor  of  Manchester,  N.  H.,  and  died  15th  August, 
1865.  Harriet  Louisa,  born  25th  May,  1817;  married  Rev.  M. 
Blake,  D.  D.  (See  biographical  sketches.)  Charles  Adams,  born 
30th  August,  1820  ;  resides  in  Milford,  N.  H. 


240  HISTORY   OF   FRANKLIN. 


THE    DARLING    FAMILY 


appears  to  have  made  only  a  temporaiy  lodgment  in  town.  No 
record  is  had  of  the  name  in  the  earlj-  Franklin  records  other  than 
of  David  as  one  of  the  petitioners,  and  onlj'  Lvdia  appears  in  the 
church  list.  "Wrentham  records  are  almost  equally  silent.  We  find 
the  seven  children  of  David  and  Lydia  Darling  (probably  the  peti- 
tioner) :  Ituhamah,  born  7th  February,  1725  ;  died  early.  Enoch, 
born  29th  September,  1727.  David,  Jr.,  died  young.  Timothy, 
born  14th  April,  1731.  Elijah,  born  23d  February,  1740.  Ku- 
hamah,  born  3d  December,  1742.     Lydia. 

Nathaniel  Fisher  married  a  Lj-dia  Darling  10th  March,  1766. 

THE    lAIRBANK    FAMILY. 

1.  Jonathan  (from  whom  Nathaniel,  the  petitioner,  descended) 
came  to  Dedham  before  1664,  with  his  wife,  Grace,  and  six  chil- 
dren from  Somerl\y,  west  riding  of  Yorkshire,  England.  He  had, 
2,  John;  George;  Mary  married  Christopher  Smith  ;  Jonas;  Jona- 
than, and  Susan,  who  married  Ralph  Day. 

2.  John,  his  son,  married  Sarah ,  and  had  nine  children  ; 

he  died  13th  November,  1684.  She  died  26th  November,  1683. 
Their  children  were:  Joshua,  born  26th  Maj-,  1643.  3,  John, 
bom  7th  February,  1644.  Sarah,  born  9th  December,  1645. 
Jonathan  died  young.  ISIartha  and  Mary,  born  25th  December, 
1650.  Joseph,  born  10th  May,  1G56.  Hannah,  born  10th  Feb- 
ruary, 1659.     Benjamin,  born  17th  February,  1662. 

3.  John,    married   Hannah   ,  and  had :    4,    John,    born 

1675  at  Dedham.  Joshua,  born  at  AVrentham  18th  March,  1682  ; 
married  Hannah  Ware.  Abigail,  born  17th  August,  1686.  Na- 
thaniel, born  9th  May,  1687.     Sarah  died  young.     Deborah,  born 

1st  August.  1692.     Hannah,  born ;  married  John  Adams. 

The  father  died  14th  September,  1706. 

4.  John,  married  Elizabeth ;  Lieutenant.     He  died  14th 

September,  1706.  He  had:  Nathan,  born  6th  August,  1704.  5, 
John,  born  28th  February,  1706. 

5.  John,  married  Jane  AVare,  30th  July,  1729.     She  died  17th 

June,  1788.     They  had  :    6,  Asa,  born ,1730.     Freelove, 

born  25th  May,  1734.  Meliscent,  born  31st  August,  1736.  Bil- 
ling, baptized  14th  June,  1741.  Olive,  born  28th  December, 
1745. 


d/ -t>^</^-^Ay  ^^..^^  (>i^-i^-c^'^ 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTICES.  241 

G.  Asa  married  Sarah  Pond  of  Franklin;  lie  died  28th  Octo- 
ber, 1809.  She  died  2d  Julj',  1801.  They  had:  BilUng,  born 
24th  Ma}-,  175G  ;  married  Abigail  Fisher.  7,  Asa,  born  3d  June, 
1758.  Meliscent,  born  18th  March,  1760;  married  Barzillai  Pond, 
18th  October,  1782.  Caroline,  died  j-oung.  Gideon,  died  at  17. 
Olive,  born  1st  March,  1767  ;  married  Joseph  Morse  of  Hopkinton. 
Nathan,  born  20th  May,  1769.  Elisha.  born  6th  June,  1771. 
"Willard,  born  10th  October,  1773  ;  married  Susanna  Lethbridge. 
John,  born  6th  January,  1775.     Otis,  died  young. 

7.  Asa,  Jr.,  Captain  ;  was  prominent  officer  in  the  Revolution- 
ary War;  he  married  Julitta  Metcalf  23d  November,  1784;  he 
died  29th  August,  1803.  They  had  :  Jcrusha,.  born  6th  January, 
1786;  married  Simeon  Bates  of  Bellingham.  Julitta,  born  10th 
April,  1788  ;  married  Rufus  Gilmore  and  went  to  Newburgh,  Me. 
Caroline,  born  25th  September,  1791  ;  married  Hon.  Willis  Fisher. 
Abigail,  born  12th  November,  1793.  Asa,  born  24th  July,  1795, 
and  removed  to  Pro^-idence,  R.  I.  Sarah,  born  1st  May,  1804  ; 
married  Elias  Metcalf,  and  removed  to  Medway. 

THE    nSHEK    FAMILY 

of  Franklin  came  from  at  least  two  different  importations.  Our 
data  are  insufficient  to  solve  all  the  perplexing  interconnections. 
But  the  several  lines  have  been  traced  back  and  joined  as  far  as  the 
records  will  allow.  Thej-  will,  it  is  hoped,  prove  long  enongh 
for  the  present  generation  of  Fishers  to  hang  themselves  to  their 
proper  ancestrj-,  if  the}-  have  any  such  genealogical  aspirations.  It 
was  once  said  that  there  were  more  Fishers  than  Ponds  in  Frank- 
lin.    Strange  if  some  were  not  without  a  line. 

1.  Thomas  Fisher  came  from  Winston,  Cambridge,  England,  to 
Dedham  in  1637,  with  his  wife  Elizabeth,  and  three  children,  ^-iz.  : 
2.  Samuel ;  Thomas,  who  married  Rebecca  Woodman  and  settled  in 
Dedham,  and  Constance,  who  died  j'oung.  He  died  10th  August, 
1638,  while  building  the  Dedham  meeting-house.  His  wife  died 
31st  January,  1652. 

2.  Samuel  married  Melatiah  Snow  and  became  the  first  deacon 
of  the  Wrentham  church,  where  he  died  6th  January,  1704.  They 
had  :  Samuel  married  Abigail  Heath,  but  left  no  children  ;  Eliza- 
beth married  -John  Ellis ;  Hannah  married  George ;  Melatiah 
married  Eleazer  Metcalf — all  born  in   Dedham.     3,  Ebenezer, 

16 


242  HISTORY   OF   FRANKLIN. 

born  ill  Wrcntham,  20th  December,  1670;  and  Abigail  married 
Daniel  Farrington. 

3.  Ebenezer  married  Abigail  Ellis,  1695  ;  was  Captain.  He 
died  28th  December,  1726.  Their  children  were:  Samuel,  born 
29th  December,  1695,  married  Maiy  Fisher  ;  Abigail  married  Ben- 
jamin Ilawes  ;  Ebenezer,  born  7th  October,  1700,  married  Hannah 
AVhiting  ;  Richard,  born  7th  August,  1702,  married  Esther  Fisher  ; 
Mehitable  died  young  ;  Melatiah  married  Jonathan  Ware  ;  Eliza- 
beth married  Joshua  Ellis  ;  Hepziliah  died  young  ;  Jeremiah,  born 
12th  October,  1711  ;  4,  Jabez,  born  19th  November,  1717. 

4.  Jabez  (see  biographical  sketches),  honorable  and  deacon 
of  Franklin  church,  married  Mary  Adams.  He  died  15th  October, 
1806.  She  died  10th  September,  1801.  Their  children  were: 
Jabez,  born  11th  December,  1741,  died  unmarried  over  90  jears. 

5 ,  Pelatiah  born  23d  March,  1 744.    Susannah  probably  died  young. 

6,  Peter  born  6th  April,  1746.    Ezra  probably  died  j'oung.    Nathan 

born  14th  September  1750,  removed  to  Westboro,  where  he  was 
Representative  for  twent3'-flve  years.  Susan  married  Joseph  Fisher. 
Samuel,  born  14th  Maj',  1755,  settled  in  Westboro.  7,  Aaron,  born 
18th  March,  1758.     Mary  married  Jason  Fisher. 

5.  Pelatiah  married  Irene  Kingsbury  17th  November,  1802. 
He  died  19th  May,  1828.  She  died  20th  September,  1843,  aged  77. 
His  two  children  died  in  infancj%  and  he  adopted  Irene,  daughter  of 
Jason,  who  married  Asa  G.  Norcross.  He  built  and  occupied 
the  house  in  which  Dr.  Chambr^  resides. 

6.  Peter  married  Joanna .     He  died  22d  March,  1836.     She 

died  26th  September,  1822.  Their  children  were  :  James,  resided 
and  died  in  Lowell,  was  Deputy  Sherilf.  8,  Perez,  born  14th  July, 
1782.  Lewis,  31st  May,  1784.  9,  Peter,  Jr.,  26th  May,  1787. 
Joanna,  unmarried. 

7.  Aaron  married  Rachel  Fisher  18th  October,  1787.  He  died 
17th  January,  1830.  Their  children  were:  Aaron,  Jr.,  settled 
in  Nashua,  N.  H. ;  Philo  married  and  removed  to  Douglas. 

8.  Perez  married  Mary  Perry  10th  June,  1807,  and  had  Smith 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTICES. 


243 


Perry,  Iwni  28th  August,  1808  ;  and  Emeliue,  married  Erastus  L. 
Metcalf,  now  an  extensive  lumbermau  in  town. 

9.  Peter,  Jr.,  married  Mary  Hawes,  16th  November,  1815.  She 
died  22d  May,  1836,  and  he  married  Mary  Thurston.  He  died  27th 
June,  1 8.59.  Tliey  had  cliildren  :  Eliza  Jane  married  Jonathan  Pond 
of  Medwaj- ;  Joseph  Hawes,  now  in  Milford,  N.  H.  ;  James  Fer- 
dinand ;  Lewis  Leprelette. 

Another  prolific  branch  of  the  Fishers  sprang  from  Anthony, 
who  came  with  his  i^imily  to  Dedham  in  1637  from  S3leham,  Eng- 
land, about  ten  miles  from  the  home  of  Thomas  in  Winston.     His 

brother  Joshua  followed  him  to  Ded- 
h.am  in  1640  with  his  family.  The 
descendants  of  Joshua  settled  in 
Dedham  and  Medfield.  Among 
them  was  Captain  Daniel,  Jr.,  who 
seized  Sir  Edmund  Andros  while 
Governor,  and  concealed  the  regi- 
cide Gotfe,  and  sent  him  to  Hadley 
with  his  daughter  Lj-dia  as  pilot  on 
a  pillion  behind  him. 

The  coat  of  arms  of  the  Fisher 
family  of  England,  and  used  by 
Joshua  Fisher,  Sr.,  in  this  country, 
is  given.  It  will  be  seen  to  be 
identical  with  that  of  the  Dauphin 
of  France,  who  received  it  from  the 
last  Count  of  Dauphine. 

1.  Anthony  above  had :  2,  Anthony,  Jr.  3,  Cornelius.  Na- 
thaniel, Daniel,  Lydia  married  Daniel  Morse,  all  born  in  England. 
Nathaniel  and  Lydia  went  to  Medfield,  and  their  posterity,  some 
of  them,  came  into  Franklin. 

2.  Anthonj',  Jr. ,  married  Joanna  Faxin  of  Dedham,  7th  Septem- 
ber,1647  ;  he  died  13th  February,  1670.  She  died  16th  October, 
1694.  They  had  :  Mehitable  ;  Josiah,  born  1st  May,  1654  ;  Sarah  ; 
Eliezer,  bom  18th  September,  1669. 

3.  Cornelius,  a  carpenter,  married  Leah  Heaton  of  Dedham, 
23d  February,  1653.  She  died  12th  January,  1664,  and  he  mar- 
ried  Sarah  Everett,  24th  July,  1665.     She  died  28th  February, 


244  HISTORY    OP    FRANKLIN. 

1675.  lie  removed  to  "Wreutham  with  the  first  settlers,  where  he 
died  2d  January,  1699,  "being,"  the  town  records  saj',  "  the  first 
head  of  a  family  died  in  the  town  of  a  natural  death  for  thirty 
j-ears."  This  qualifying  clause  must  refer  to  the  death  of  Joseph 
Kingsburj',  in  1688,  "  in  an  awful  and  dreadful  way,"  and  no  fur- 
ther described.  His  children  were  :  Elizabeth  ;  Leah  ;  Experience  ; 
4,  Cornelius,  Jr.,  born  8th  Febrnarj',  ICGO  ;  Ann  ;  5,  Eliezer,  born 
5th  Jul}-,  16G3.  Bj' his  second  wife,  Dorothj- ;  Sarah;  Jonathan, 
the  third  death  on  the  "Wrentham  records. 

4.  Cornelius,  Jr.,  married  Auu  or  Hannah  Whiting,  of  Sher- 
born.  She  died  6th  March,  1701,  and  he  married  Mere}'  Colburn 
of  Dedham.  She  died,  20th  September,  1726,  and  he  married 
Mary  Ware.  Pie  died  6th  January,  1743,  in  his  84th  j-ear. 
His  children  were  :  Jonathan,  died  3-oung  ;  6,  Cornelius,  born  29th 
September,  1692;  Isaac,  born  19th  Ma}',  1694;  Ann,  married 
Ebeuezer  Clark  ;  7,  Joseph,  boru  11th  May,  1698  ;  8,  Benjamin, 
born  6th  March,  1701  ;  Mercy,  married  Samuel  Fisher ;  Esther, 
born  27th  October,  1710. 

5.  Eliezer  married  Hannah  Leonard  21st  March,  1688.  He 
had:  9,  Eliezer,  Jr.,  and  others  l)orn  probably  elsewhere  and  in 
Wrentham.  Lenard,  born  8th  June,  1704  ;  John,  born  1st  April, 
1706. 

6.  Cornelius  married  Hannah  Partridge  2d  February,  1725. 
He  owned  land  in  Franklin  at  "Pabalutick"  (Popolafie)  near 
where  he  resided.  He  had  seven  daughters,  no  sons,  and  his 
name  ended. 

7.  Joseph  married  Mary  Sweetzer  and  had:  10,  Joseph,  born 
31st  August,  1724.     The  onlj-  child  recorded. 

8.  Benjamin,  married  Anna  Cowell,  and  had  Martha ;  Benja- 
min, boru  15th  April,  1729;  Daniel,  born  14th  January,  1731; 
Asa,  born  17th  September,  1732;  Anna;  Joshua,  born  24th  Feb- 
ruarj'  1737;  Amos,  born  19th  August,  1739;  18,  Joseph,  born 
6th  October,  1741.     (See  No.  18  below). 

9.  Eliezer,  Jr. ,  married  Rachel ,  and  had  :    Daniel,  born 

6th  February,  1722  ;  Hannah,  married  Joseph  Hawes  ;  11,  Heze- 
kiah,  born  16th  INIay,  1726  ;  25,  Eleazcr,  born  30th  January,  1730  ; 
Simeon,  born  21st  November,  1731;  Eachel,  married  Timothj- 
Fisher;  Abijah,  born  12th  November,  1736. 

10.  Joseph  married  Margaret ,  and  had  :     Joseph,  born 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTICES.  245 

31st  August,  1753;   Hannah;    John,  born  6th  April,  1758;    12, 
Jason,  born  28th  Jnne,  1760,  married  IMarv  Fisher. 

11.  Hezekiah  married  Abigail  Daniels  4th  September,  1751; 
resided  in  North  Franklin.     He  died  27th  June,  1809.     She  died 

11th  Januarj-,  1788,  and  he  married,  second,  Dinah .    She 

died  23d  March,  1812.     His  children  were:     Eunice;    13,  Asa, 

born  8th  March,  1757;    14,  Levi,  born  8th  ,  1758;   Moses, 

born  13th  October,  1763;  15,  Caleb,  born  11th  October,  1768. 

12.  Jason  married  Marj'  Fisher  27th  November,  1783.  She 
died  14th  June,  1804,  and  he  married  second  Olive  Smith,  10th 
October,  1805.  He  died  29th  September,  1822.  His  children : 
John,  born  6th  September,  1784;  10,  Jason,  born  30th  March, 
1787 ;  Mary;  Jemima,  manied  Alfred  Ware ;  Nathaniel,  born  28th 
October,  1795  ;  Charles  Martel,  born  24th  July,  1799,  and  removed 
to  Chelmsford;  Irene,  married  Asa  G.  Norcross. 

13.  Asa  married  Rachel  Adams.  She  died  4th  March,  1830, 
and  he  married  second  Prudence  Keith.  He  died  23d  November, 
1843.  His  children  were:  Lewis,  born  10th  December,  1784, 
married  Rebecca  Berry  ;  James  and  George  W.  died  young; 
Patty,  married  Archibald  De  Witt;  Natlian  Austin,  born  23d  No- 
vember, 1796,  and  removed  to  Westboro. 

14.  Levi  married  Mary  Clark  9th  June,  1785.  She  died  31st 
March,  1788,  and  he  married  second  Susanna  Clark,  13th  April, 
1809.  She  died  27th  May,  1858.  His  children  were :  Mary, 
married  WilKam  Adams,  Jr.;  Ruth,  married  Ehsha  Richardson; 
Sally,  not  married;  Abigail,  died  young;  Rena,  married  Elisha 
BuUard;  Abigail,  married  Timothj'  Leland  Pond;  David,  died 
j'oung.  By  second  wife:  Levi  Clark,  born  7tli  .January-,  1810; 
David,  born  20th  January,  1812;  Susanna,  and  Melinda. 

15.  Caleb  married  Sail}-  Gushing  20th  November,  1793.  She 
died  11th  August,  1835.  He  married,  second,  Aehsah  Metcalf. 
He  died  6th  August,  1862,  in  his  94th  year.  His  children  :  Alex- 
ander Metcalf.  (See  biographical  sketches.)  17,  Willard,  born 
17th  March,  1796.  Eliza  Tilestone ;  married  Dr.  John  W.  Ten- 
aey.  (See  biographical  sketches.)  Nancy,  married  Rev.  Thomas 
Kidder.     (See  biographical  sketches.) 

16.  Jason,  Jr.,  married  Mary  Rich.  He  died  10th  July,  1863. 
Their  children  were  :  George  Nelson,  born  4th  May,  1813,  resides 


246  HISTORY   OF   FRANKLIN. 

in  Charlestown  ;  Mary  Adaline   and   John  Warren,  died  young ; 
Ellen  Maria,  died  unmarried  29th  March,  1872. 

17.  Willard  married  Betsej'  R.  Wheeler.  He  died  14th  .Janu- 
ary, 1866.  His  children  :  Alexander  Metcalf,  died  in  infancj' ; 
Sewall,  born  9th  November,  1834.  Sarah,  born  17th  September, 
1836.  Betsey,  died  j'oung.  George.  (See  biographical  sketches.) 
Abby,  born  28th  October,  1843. 

Going  back  on  these  lines  —  on  that  of  Anthony  to  (8)  Ben- 
jamin, and  on  that  of  Thomas  to  (8)  Jabez  —  you  find  Joseph  of 
the  one  line  married  Susa  of  the  other.  Of  this  Tinion  came  as 
follows  :  — 

18.  Joseph,  married  Susa  Fisher,  1st  Jannarj',  1773.  He  died 
26th  January-,  1819.  She  died  in  1842.  Children:  Susan,  mar- 
ried Joseph  Daniels.  Nancj-,  married  Nathan  Gilmore  ;  Eliab, 
born  24th  Feliruary,  1779,  removed,  and  has  two  sons  in  New 
York.  19,  AVillis,  born  20th  July,  1783.  20,  Maxcy,  born  12th 
August,  1785.  George.  (See  biographical  sketches.)  Joseph, 
died  j'oung.  Hormon,  born  2.5th  June,  1792,  removed  to  Bangor. 
Clara,  died  unmarried  14th  May,  1833. 

19.  Willis  married  Caroline  Fairbank  8th  February,  1810. 
He  died  1st  January,  1866,  aged  over  82.  She  died  26th  July 
1858. 

Esquire  Fisher,  whose  portrait  is  given  opposite,  was  a  man  of 
more  than  ordinary  ability.  He  lived  in  the  south  part  of  the 
town,  but  was  a  regular  attendant  at  church  with  his  whole  large 
famih'.  He  supervised  a  large  farm,  but  found  time  to  perform 
an  extensive  business  as  justice  of  the  peace  for  j'ears.  He  was 
frequently  elected  to  town  offices,  although  living  away  from  the 
Center,  was  chosen  Eepresentative,  etc.  He  had  clear  and  posi- 
tive convictions  and  a  wide  interest  in  all  that  pertained  to  the 
welfare  of  the  town.  His  children  were  :  Milton  Metcalf.  (See 
biographical  sketches.)  George  Perkins,  born  15th  April,  1813. 
Abigail  Bacon  married  first  Charles  Slocum,  second  Rev.  Sam- 
uel Hunt.  (See  ecclesiastical  notices.)  Charles  Willis,  llthNo- 
vember,  1820.  Caroline  Fairbanks  and  Ellen  Maria  died  unmar- 
ried ;  Julia  Francis  married  Rufiis  Chapin,  and  resides  in  Chicago. 

20.  Maxcy  married  Persis  Metcalf,  31st  December,  1811.     She 

died  24th  March,  1835  ;  married,  second,  Abigail .    He  died 

30th  August,  1805,  aged  80.     Their  children  were  :     Sarah  Hawk- 


'^(Pi>/^4^  ^%^/C-*^ 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTICES.  247 

ins,  died  at  23  years  ;  Louisa  Jane  married  Rev.  Edwin  Thompson 
(see  biographical  sketches)  ;  Joseph  Haven,  born  •23d  June,  1817  ; 
Susan,  married  Rev.  E.  Thompson  ;  Paul  Metcalf,  died  J'oung ; 
Maria  Richardson,  Martha  Emmons,  Nancy,  Elial,  Clara,  and 
Lucius  W.,  died  young;  Hermon  Maxcy,  born 24th  August,  1821, 
and  lives  on  the  homestead. 

Another  branch  hne  of  the  Franklin  Fishers  depends  from  (1) 
Thomas,  (3)  Ebenezer  and  his  son. 

21.  Captain  Ebenezer,  Jr.,  married  Hannah  Whiting,  loth  May, 
1729,  and  had  the  following  children  :  Ebenezer,  born  28th  July, 
1730  ;  22,  Timothy,  born  8th  December,  1732  ;  David,  born  1st  Sep- 
tember, 1735;  James,  born  25th  Februarj-,  1737;  Elijah,  born 
25th  August,  1 739  ;  Hannah,  Elizabeth  and  Susanna. 

22.  Timothy  married  Keturah  Pond  2d  October,  1755.  He  died 
3d  May,  1814.  He  had  the  following  children  :  George,  born  7th 
March,  1756;  Royal,  born  16th  November,  1757;  Oliver,  born 
7th  May,  1759  ;  Cj-rus,  born  25th  December,  1760  ;  Lewis,  born 
9th  January,  1763;  Hannah;  23,  Timothy,  Jr.,  born  2d  August, 
1767;  and  Keturah. 

23.  Timothy,  Jr.,  married  Hannah .  She  died  9th  Oc- 
tober, 1790,  and  he  married,  second,  Dorcas  Cleveland  of  Medfleld, 
28th  May,  1795.  She  died  6th  July,  1860.  His  children  :  Abi- 
jah,  born  2d  November,  1788;  Whiting,  born  3d  October,  1790, 
and  removed  to  Sutton.  By  second  wife  he  had  :  Harmon  Cleve- 
land, born  13th  April,  1797.  He  was  an  active  straw  manufac- 
turer for  years  and  frequent  public  officer.  He  now  resides  in 
Haverhill.  Had  one  child.  Hannah  married  Ichabod  Dean ; 
24,  Adin,  born  6th  April,  1800  ;  Adaline,  and  Charlotte. 

24.  Adin  married  Mary  Clark  13th  April,  1826.  He  has  had 
several  children  and  is  still  liAing  in  town. 

Another  branch  of  Fishers  sprang  from  (1)  Anthony,  and  (9) 
Eleazer  through  liis  son. 

25.  Eleazer.  He  married  Mary  Daws  7th  December,  1756, 
and  had:  Olive;  26,  Eleazer,  Jr.,  born  18th  July,  1759;  Fred- 
eric, born  1st  June,  1763.  She  died  14th  October,  1806.  He 
died  19th  May,  1804. 

26.  Eleazer,  Jr.,  married  Susanna .     He  died  3d  .June, 

1818.     His  children  were  :     Harriet,  born  2d  March,  1790;  Sam- 


248  HISTORY   OF    FRANKLIN. 

uel  Biram,  removed  to  New  Hampshire ;  Frederic,  boru  •28th  De- 
cember, 1794;  Melia,  born  27th  November,  1798. 

StiU  another  line  is  traceable  to  Nathaniel,  of  Wrentham,  who 
might  have  been  of  Nathaniel,  the  son  of  (1)  Anthouj-,  who  went 
to  Medfleld. 

27.  Nathaniel  was  an  original  immigrant  into  Wrentham  with 
his  wife  Hannali.  They  had  four  children  in  Wrentham  :  Joseph, 
born  30th  March,  1729  ;  28,  Nathaniel,  born  13th  December,  1730  ; 
Hannah,  born  29th  December,  1733,  married  Daniel  Hawes  ;* 
Elizabeth,  born  14th  October,  1734,  married  Asa  Whiting. 

28.  Nathaniel,  Jr.,  married  Jemima  Richardson  22d  October, 
1757.  Their  children  were  :  Jemima,  died  young  ;  Jacob  and 
Jerusha,  born  20th  March,  1760;  Amasa,  born  19th  September, 
1762 ;  Darius,  born  26th  Julj%  1765  ;  20,  Lewis,  born  6th  Decem- 
ber. 1767;  Jemima,  married  Rev.  W.  Harris,  D.  D.  (see  bio- 
graphical sketches) . 

29.  Lewis  married  Abigail .    He  filled  many  town  offices ; 

was  Representative  for  several  years,  State  Senator,  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  etc.  His  wife  died  25th  February,  1809,  aged  about  40; 
and  he  married  second  Lula  Chandler  Bacon,  of  Sutton,  16th  .Jan- 
uary, 1812.  Their  children  were:  Nathaniel,  Jr.,  died  young; 
Lewis  Whiting  (see  biographical  sketches);  Harvey  and  llarlous, 
born  1st  September,  1795;  Harvey  died  young;  Abigail  Whiting 
died  j-oung;  Nathaniel  Emmons,  born  29th  September,  1800; 
Maria  Ann;  Caroline;  John  Hancock,  born  23d  Januarv,  1807,  is 
in  California;  Walter  Harris,  born  28th  January,  1809,  and  re- 
sides in  Norfolk.  By  second  wife  he  had  Abigail  Ursula,  married 
Adams  Daniels,  of  Medwav. 

Other  families  of  this  name  we  have  been  unable  to  trace  by  the 
town  records.  Thus,  of  the  family  of  Daniel  C.  Fisher  we  find 
no  record  of  his  marriage  to  either  of  his  three  wives.  We  learn 
their  number  only  b^-  the  record  of  the  deaths  of  Lurana,  loth 
May,  1807,  and  of  Sarah,  20th  January,  1810.  He  died  i7th 
November,  1835.  His  children  were  :  Betsej-,  died  at  23  years  ; 
Julius,  born  20th  January,  1796  ;  Daniel  Cowell,  born  30th  August, 
1800  ;  Lucy  Baker,  born  1st  May,  1803  ;  David  Baker,  born  23d 


*  Such  persons  were  married  at  the  proper  age,  but  we  are  not  sure  of  the 
identity. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTICES. 


249 


May,  1809  ;  Lurana  died  at   16  ;  Charles  Richmond.     (See   bio- 
gi-aphical  sketches) . 

THE    FITZPATRICK    FAMILY. 

John  L.  Fitzpatrick  came  into  town  about  1845.  He  bought 
the  house  of  John  Broady,  first  built  and  occupied  by  Alfred  Ware, 
which  he  has  ornamented  and  made  a  ver}-  tasteful  residence.  A 
view  of  it  is  here  inserted. 


EESIDEJfCE   OF  JOHN   L.    FITZPATRICK. 

Mr.  Fitzpatrick  was  the  first  mover  towards  the  gathering  of  a 
Catholic  congregation,  and  has  been  an  influential  member  of  it. 
as  well  as  a  justly  respected  citizen  of  the  town. 

THE   GAY    FAMILY. 

This  famih"  early  disappeared  from  town.  Edward,  one  of  the 
petitioners  for  the  Precinct  charter,  owned  the  farm   afterwards 


250 


HISTORY   OF   FRANKLIN. 


occupied  bj-  Aaron  Fisher,  and  built  the  house  still  standing,  being 
the  first  plank-house  in  town.  He  was  descended  from  Edward 
and  Rebecca  (Fisher),  of  Wrentham,  whose  line  is  traceable 
through  Samuel  of  Dedham  (born  1G39,)  to  John  of  Watertown. 
Edward  married  Rachel  Puffer  14th  June,  1722.  One  of  the 
original  members  of  the  Franklin  church.     He  died  23d  December, 


EESIDENCE    OF   HENRY   M.    GREENE. 


1730,  in  his  64th  year.  She  died  17th  May,  17.54.  They  had: 
Rebekah,  born  25th  June,  1723,  married  Ezekiel  Hall.  Edward, 
Jr.,  born  8th  May,  1726.     Rachel,  died  j'oung. 

Edward,  Jr., married  first  Margarj- , second  Mary . 

He  had  nine  children:  Thomas,  born  7th  October,  1753  ;  Rachel, 
born  24th  August,  1755;  Margary,  born  11th  December,  1757; 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTICES.  251 

Zipporah,  born  7tli  May,  17G0;  Timothy,  born  17th  June,  17G2; 
Joseph,  boru  '2d  Oetolter,  1764  ;  Susey,  born  1 1th  February-,  1768. 
Bj'  second  wife  he  had:  Elizabeth,  born  17th  November,  1772; 
Dorcas,  born  21st  April,  1775. 

Of  these  children  Thomas  married  Mary  Bacon  12th  January, 
1786,  and  Timothy  married  Submit  Blacliraan  1st  December, 
1785. 

Timothy  had:  Edward,  born  28th  May,  1790;  Willard,  bom 
18th  February,  1792;  Mary,  born  27th  April,  1790;  Timothy, 
Jr.,  born  2d  November,  1797. 

THE    GREENE    FAMILY. 

Martin  Greene,  the  first  of  the  name  in  town,  purchased  the 
business  and  estate  of  Jason  Morse,  about  a  mile  from  the  City 
Mills,  not  far  from  the  beginning  of  1800.  He  had  two  children, 
Henry  M.,  and  Angennette,  present  wife  of  David  P.  Baker. 

Henr3-  M.  Greene  has  been  an  extensive  straw-bonnet  manu- 
facturer. He  has  filled  important  civil  offlces  in  town.  His  por- 
trait is  in  the  group  of  the  Centennial  Committee.  A  view  of  his 
residence  on  Main  street  is  given  on  the  opposite  page. 

THE  HALL  FAMILY. 

Edward  Hall,  one  of  the  earlj'  settlers  of  AVest  precinct,  sud- 
denly disappeared  with  his  whole  familj%  leaving  only  their  names 
upon  the  records.  He  married  Hannah  Fisher,  7th  February, 
1722,  and  had  :  Edward,  born  l.sth  July,  1727  ;  James,  born  22d 
April,  1729;  Hezelviah,  born  9th  August,  1730;  Hannah,  born 
30th  June,  1732;  Mary,  born  20th  Februar}-,  1735;  Seth,  boru 
26th  August,  1736.     Where  they  went  is  not  iiiiown. 

THE    HAWES    FAMILY 

is  traceable  baelv  to  the  first  settlement  of  Dedham. 

1.  Edward,  of  Dedham,  married  15th  April,  1648,  Eliony  Lum- 
ber, and  had  nine  children.  He  died  28th  June,  1686.  His  chil- 
dren were  :  Lydia  :  married  a  Gay.  Mary.  2,  Daniel,  born  10th 
Februaiy,  1652 ;  married  Abial  Gay.  Hannah,  married  John 
Mason.  John  and  Nathaniel  died  young.  Abigail,  married  John 
Fales.  Joseph.  Deborah,  married  in  Wrentham,  first  to  Eph- 
raim  Pond  ;  second,  married  a  Bacon. 


252 


HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 


2.  Daniel,  of  "Wrentham,  and  Abial  Ga^y  were  married  lltli 
February,  1677.  He  died  IGtli  March,  1739,  aged  86.  They 
had :  Mar}-,  married  Eleazer  Ware.  Abigail,  married  Theodore 
Man.  3,  Daniel,  born  30th  March,  1684  ;  married  Beria  Man. 
Josiah.  Hezekiah,  married  Esther  Ware.  Ruth,  married 
Nathaniel  Wright.     Benjamin,  married  Abigail  Fisher. 


THE    HAWES   HOMESTEAD. 


3.  Daniel,  Jr.,  of  Franklin  and  Beria  (Man)  had  eleven  chil- 
dren :  Daniel.  Samuel.  Pelatiah,  married  Judith  Peck.  Thomas. 
Aaron.  Ichabod.  Timothy,  married  Mary  Ware.  Beriah,  and 
4,  Josiali,  born  30th  ISIarch,  1724.  Mary,  married  Ebenezer 
Lawrence  ;  and  .5,  Joseph,  born  21st  March,  1728. 

A  view  of  the  Hawes  homestead  is  here  inserted.  It  is  proba- 
bly the  oldest  house  m  Franklin,  built  at  least  175  years  ago.     Its 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTICES. 


253 


interior  shows  its  great  antiquity,  and  that  it  was  erected  to  be  a 
defense  against  Indian  attacks. 

•i.  Josiali  married  Meria  Lyon,  and  liad  :  Abijali  and  M.at- 
thias,  who  both  went  to  Union,  Me.;  Mary;  Jemima,  married  a 
"Wight,  of  Bellingham  ;  Beria ;  Levi,  born  22d  May,  176.'>. 

5.    Ensign  Joseph  married  Hannah  Fisher.  Ljth  .January,  17.52. 


MAJOR   MOSES   KXAPr  S   HOMESTEAD. 

He  died  18th  February,  1818.  They  had :  7,  Moses,  born  8th 
November,  1752;  Susa  ;  Joseph,  married  Hannah  Whiting ;  Abi- 
gail ;  Amos,  Captain,  married  Melatiah  Everett,  of  "Wrentham  ; 
Peter  (see  biographical  sketches) . 

6.  Levi,  deacon  of  Franklin  church  from  1827  to  hig  death,  9th 
May,  1839.  He  married  Pamela  Clark,  1st  January,  1793,  and 
had :     Mary ;    Abigail,    married    Capt.    Joel    Hills,    of    Maine ; 


254  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

Josiah,  born  14th  December,  1804,  married  30th  November,  182G, 
Esther  Taft,  and  went  to  Holliston. 

7.    Moses  married  Poll}-  .     He  spent  his  early  life  in 

Union,  Me.  Thej-  had:  Ameli.a,  married  7th  September,  1819,' 
Dr.  Elisha  Harding  (see  biographical  sketches);  Eleanor,  married 
Maj.  Alfred  Knapp  ;  Marj-,  married  Peter  Fisher;  and  a  daughter 
■who  married  an  Allen,  father  of  Sabiu  and  Amos  H.  Allen,  and 
Clarinda. 

On  the  preceding  page  is  a  view  of  the  homestead  of  Maj. 
Moses  Knapp,  the  father  of  Alfred,  Hiram  and  Melville  Knapp, 
and  to  which  Alfred  took  the  daughter  of  Moses  Hawes.  It  is  not 
far  from  Unionville,  towards  Bellingham,  and  a  fine  sample  of  the 
former  homes  of  old  Franklin. 

Nathaniel  Hawes,  among  the  earliest  members  of  the  church 
and  precinct,  apparently  came  of  another  line.  He  married  Su- 
sanna, and  had  seven  children.  The  sur\'ivors  were  :  Keziah, 
born  29th  August,  1735;  Jonathan,  born  28th  December,  1742; 
Edward,  born  9th  March,  1744;  Esther,  born  11th  May,  1747. 

2.  Jonathan  married  Mar}-  Partridge,  and  had :  Susanna, 
Melati.ah,  Jason,  Molly,  Nathan;  3,  Jonathan,  born  2d  April, 
1773;  Nathaniel. 

3.  Jonathan,  Jr.,  married  Sarah  Adams,  and  had:  Nathan, 
married  Sylvia  Winne;  Susanna,  married  Hiram  Clark,  of  Union, 
Conn.;  Fanny,  Sail}-,  and  Nathaniel  married  Eliza  A.  Weather- 
head. 

THE    HILLS    FAMILY. 

1.  Jabez  was  the  first  settler  in  Franklin  about  1730,  on  the 
Warren  Hills  place.  Whence  he  came  is  not  known  to  the  writer. 
He  married  in  Wrentham  31st  January,  1727,  Martha  Metealf, 
and  had  :  2,  Joseph,  born  20th  April,  1730  ;  Benjamin,  born  IGth 
March,  1732;  Ebenczer,  born  7th  January,  1735;  David,  born 
24th  January,  1736.     He  died  18th  January,  1742. 

2.  Captain  Joseph,  married,  first,  Marj^  Ware,  14th  Februarj-, 
1763;  second,  Betty  Pond.  They  had  :  3,  Jason,  born  23d  No- 
vember, 1765;  4,  Joseph,  born  28th  October,  1769;  Marj-  mar- 
ried William  Gilmore.     He  died  5th  January,  1797. 

3.  Jason  married  Molly  Grover  of  North  Bridgewater,  and 
had:  Nancy;  5,  Lewis,  born  5th  September,  1794;  6,  Seneca, 
born  26th  April,  1796;  Betsey  Pond;  Warren,  born  19th  March, 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTICES.  255 

1800;  7,  Harvey,  born  13th  May,  1802;  8,  E:iias  Ware,  bom  21st 
April,  1801  ;  Polly  and  Caroline.     He  died  15th  July,  1827. 

4.  Joseph  married  Deborah  Blake,  sister  of  Solomon.  Thej- 
lad:  9,  Lysander  Blake,  born  26th  August,  17!)G;  10,  Jarvis 
Harlow,  born  16th  December,  1798;  Mary,  married  Samuel  Fales ; 
Olive  Gilmore,  married  C'apt.  A.  E.  Daniels  ;  11,  Theron  Clement, 
born  11th  April,  1808,  married  Deborah  Snow. 

5.  Lewis,  married  Ann  Lawrence,  and  had:  Joseph  G.,  and 
Louisa,  who  married  Albert  II.  Ham,  of  Portsmouth,  N.  II. 

6.  Seneca  married,  first,  Maria  Richardson  of  East  Medway, 
and  had  three  children,  of  whom  Abigail  C.  married  E.  L.  Hol- 
brook,  the  well-known  organ  builder.  He  married  second  Sarah  M. 
Pratt  of  South  Easton,  and  had  three  children,  two  of  whom  now 
reside  with  their  mother  in  Taunton. 

7.  Harvey  married,  first,  Abigail  Henderson  of  Medwaj-,  and 
had  three  children ;  second  Mary  E.  Ham  of  Portsmouth,  N.  H. 

8.  Elias  W.,  removed  to  Portland  Me.,  and  married  Lois  Smith  ; 
has  three  children. 

9.  Lysander  B.,  married  Elizabeth  Lumbert,  and  had  :  Melissa 
Blake,  married  Augustus  M.  Blake ;  Deborah  Elizabeth,  married 
Hartwell  Morse  ;  Sanford,  married  Mary  C.  Metcalf ;  Mar^-  Fales 
married  first  Reuben  Crossley,  second  William  Bauke. 

10.  Jarvis  H.  married  Phila  Brown,  and  had  no  children. 

11.  Theron  C.  married  Hannah  D.  Snow,  and  had  no  children. 

THE    JONES    FAMILY. 

David  Jones,  petitioner  for  a  precinct  and  its  third  treasurer, 
■was  descended  from  David,  of  Dorchester,  who  married,  1659,  Sa- 
rah Topliff,  and  died  27th  September,  1G91,  aged  66.  His  son 
David  married,  1685,  Ann  Bullard.  David,  Jr.,  his  son,  appears 
first  in  Wrentham  with  his  wife  Sarah  in  1711,  where  his  six  chil- 
dren are  recorded  ;  Adz.  :  Ann,  married  Jonathan  Nelson.  Sarah. 
David,  3d.  Praisiver.  2,  Seth.  Mary.  He,  Seth  and  Mary  were 
members  of  the  church. 

DaA-id,  3d,  married  Esther  Blake,  and  had  Chloe,  Elias,  and 
David.  2,  Seth  by  his  wife  Esther  had  Esther  and  Betty.  The 
whole  famih'  removed  to  Abington  not  long  after  the  incorporation 
of  the  precinct. 


256  HISTORY   OF   FRANKLIN. 

THE     KTXGSBURV    FAMILY. 

1.  Joseph,  Dedham,  1637;  married  Melliseeut and  died 

1676.  They  had  Sarah;  married  Eobert  Grossman,  of  Taunton. 
Mar}- ;  married  Dea.  Thomas  Cooper,  of  Rehoboth.  Elizabeth  ; 
married  Nathaniel  Brewer,  of  Roxbiuy.  2,  Joseph,  Jr.,  who 
went  to  Wrentham.  John  ;  married  Elizabeth  Fuller  (afterwards 
wife  of  Michael  Metcalf.)  Elcazer,  married  Esther  Judson.  3, 
Nathaniel. 

2.  Joseph,  Jr.  ;  married  IMarj-  Donier  and  had,  born  in  Ded- 
ham :  John.  Elizabeth ;  married  William  Briggs,  of  Taunton. 
Eleazer,  born  12th  May,  1673;  tailor  in  "Wrentham,  who  turned 
preacher,  went  to  Cape  May  and  changed  his  name  to  Beny. 
Hannah.     Mar}'  and  Mcrcj*  (twins).     JMarah. 

3.  Nathaniel;  married  Mary ,  and  had  Nathaniel,  Jr., 

born  14th  September,  1674  ;  married  Abigail  Baker.  She  died  at 
90.  James.  Timoth}-.  John.  4,  Daniel,  born  11th  November, 
1688.     Melliscent. 

4.  Daniel ;  married  Elizabeth  Stephens,  of  Dedham.  He  died 
27th  April,  1 754.  Their  children  were  :  5,  Daniel,  born  12th  March, 
1715.  6,  Stephen,  1716.  Elizabeth;  married  Joshua  Partridge. 
Marj' ;  married  Joseph  Harding. 

5.  Daniel,  Jr.,  first  deacon  of  Franklin  church,  married,  first,  Be- 
riah,  daughter  of  Theodore  Mann;  she  died  27th  April,  1754; 
married,  second,  Abigail,widowof  PeterAdams,  9th  October,  1755. 
Their  children  were:  Nathaniel,  born  18th  Februarj',  1739. 
Lydia,  born  19tli  November,  1740  ;  married  Amos  Holbrook.  Dan- 
iel, born  1741  ;  went  to  Keeue,  N.  H.  Samuel.  John.  7,  Tim- 
othy, born  6th  August,  1746.  James,  born  3d  January,  1748  ; 
married  Mary  Upton,  and  was  father  of  Rev.  Samuel.  (See  bio- 
graphical .sketches.)  John.  Theodore.  By  his  second  wife,  Peter 
and  Benjamin,  twins. 

6.  Stephen,  married  Silence,  daughter  of  Samuel  Partridge.  He 
died  23d  April,  1 754.  Their  children  were  :  Moses  and  Aaron,  born 
1743.  Moses  died  1771,  leaving  three  children,  namelj' :  Cyrus, 
who  married  Philista  Partridge  ;  went  to  Alstead,  N.  H.,  and  was 
father  of  Rev.  Cyrus  King-sbur}-,  D.  D.  B.  U.  1812,  and  mis- 
sionar}-  to  tlie  Choctaws.  INIoses,  Matilda  ;  Lois  married  a  Met- 
calf. Benjamin,  Abigail ;  Olive  married  Noah  Haven.  8,  Stephen 
posthumous,  born  3d  August,  1754. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTICES.  257 

7.  Timothy,  married  Judah  Adams  5tli  January,  1709.  He 
died  21st  December,  1824.  Their  children  were :  Judith,  Mili- 
cent,  Beriah  ;  Ebenezer  Adams,  born  2d  Januarj-,  1781.  Eben- 
ezer  A.  was  father  of  Fisher  A.,  Lawton,  Nathaniel  Davis,  Clar- 
issa, Polly,  and  Abner  D.     All  have  left  town. 

8.  Stephen,  married  Abigail  Allen  3d  June,  1777.  He  died 
23d  September,  180'J.  She  died  31st  January,  1820.  Their  chil- 
dren were  :  Matilda,  born  15th  June,  1778  ;  married  John  Wilkes 
Richardson.  Horatio,  died  at  18.  '.),  Stephen,  born  10th  Septem- 
ber, 1782.  Abigail,  born  nth  August,  1787.  Samuel  Allen.  (See 
biographical  notices) . 

D.  Stephen,  married  Olive  Haven  10th  April,  1811.  Their  chil- 
dren were  :  Horatio,  born  29th  February,  1812  ;  married  Adelia 
Robbins,  daughter  of  James  and  Rena  Gilmore.  John  Haven, 
born  13th  September,  1819  ;  married  Harriet  S.  Merrifleld. 

THE    LAWRENCE    FAMILY. 

There  were  two  petitioners  of  this  name,  David,  Jr.,  and  Eben- 
ezer, both  of  them  originating  in  Wrentham. 

1.  Da^•id,  Sen.,  and  Bethyah  had  David,  Jr.,  born  3d  Septem- 
ber, 1712.  Bethyah,  born  31st  August,  1713  ;  married  Andrew 
Blake  22d  February,  1749.     Phebe,  born  25th  March,  1715. 

2.  David,  Jr.,  married  Elizabeth.  They  had  ten  children: 
Joseph,  born  22d  August,  1845.  Isaiah,  born  3d  September,  1747. 
Eliakim)  baptized  in  Franklin,  1750).  Eunice;  perhaps  married 
Titus  Metcalf,  8th  Maj',  1793.  Amos,  born  15th  January,  1755. 
Joseph,  born  26th  March,  1757  ;  married  Anna  Hills  22d  Janu- 
arj%  1784.  Elizabeth,  born  14th  March.  1758.  Joshua,  born  11th 
September,  1759.  David  (baptized  in  Franklin,  1766)  ;  married 
Lois  Reid.  Cephas  (baptized  in  Franklin,  1762)  ;  married  Esther 
Whiting  26th  November,  1789.  This  family  is  not  further  trace- 
able. 

By  another  apparently  different  line  comes  Ebenezer.  He  was 
a  son  of  John.  Ebenezer  and  Mary  have  seven  children  recorded  : 
Sarah,  born  30th  May,  1709  ;  married  Isaac  Wheeler  8th  May, 
1734.  Mary,  bom  25th  May,  1711.  John,  born  27th  June,  1713. 
Mercj-,  born  25th  February,  1714.  Margaret,  born  5th  July, 
1716.  Hannah,  born  30th  May,  1719.  Ebenezer,  Jr.,  born  11th 
May,  1721. 

17 


258  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

Ebenezer,  Jr..  married  Mary  Haws,  11th  February,  174fi.  She 
died  9th  February,  1778,  and  he  married,  second,  AVidow  Mary 
Harding.  He  had  :  Joshua,  born  20th  December,  1746.  Moses, 
born  28th  May,  1748.  Abigail,  born  14th  June,  1749;  married 
Elisha  Richardson.  Rachel,  born  13th  February,  1751  ;  married 
Thaddeus  Adams.  Beria  and  Meria,  born  11th  January,  1753; 
Beria  married  Dea.  Philip  Blalve  10th  February,  1796.  Meria 
married  David  Hartshorn  4th  September,  1788.  Ebenezer  and 
Rebecca,  born  8th  April,  1755.  Seth  (baptized  in  Franklin,  1 757) . 
The  father  died  4th  October,  1796. 

THE    MAKEPEACE    FAMELY 

made  but  a  l)rief  tarrying  in  town.  It  first  appears  in  the  mar- 
riage, 16th  April,  1794,  of  William  Makepeace  and  Mary  Whiting. 
He  settled  in  Unionville,  where  he  built  a  thread-miU  with  Col.  A. 
DeWitt.  A  portrait  of  Mr.  Makepeace  is  given  in  connection 
with  this  sketch.  His  homestead  will  be  found  with  the  Rock- 
wood  family.  The  children  of  William  and  Mar}'  Makepeace 
were:  William,  Jr.,  l)orn  2d  March,  1795,  removed  to  Boston. 
Polly,  born  18th  May,  1798  ;  married  Archibald  DeWitt.  George 
Le  Mont,  born  17th  October,  1801  ;  removed  to  Rutland  (?). 

THE    MANN    FAMILY. 

The  Franklin  branch  was  descended  from  Rev.  .Samuel  Mann,  the 
first  minister  of  Wrenthnm,  through  his  sixth  child.  Thomas.  For 
some  notice  of  the  family  see  Address,  page  20. 

Thomas  was  born  24th  October,  1682,  mamed  Hannah  Aldis 
and  had  seven  children.  He  was  among  the  first  settlers  in  Frank- 
Un,  on  what  was  called  "Mann's  Plain."  A  view  of  the  Mann 
homestead  has  been  furnished  by  Mrs.  Rebecca  M.  (Pennell) 
Dean,  sketched  from  her  carl}'  recollections  and  is  given  oppo- 
site, as  the  birthplace  of  Horace  Mann. 

The  children  of  Thomas  and  Hannah  Mann  were  :  Hannah, 
married  Eleazer  Ware ;  Esther,  married  Robert  Ware ;  Rachel ; 
3,  Nathan,  born  15th  October,  1716;  Ruth,  married  Benjamin 
Rockwood;  Hepzibah,  married  Pelatiah  Metcalf;  Mary,  married 
Jabez  Ware. 

3.    Nathan    married   Esther,    and    had :     Esther,   Lois,  Abial, 


Wm.  Makepeace,   Esq. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTICES.  259 

Mary;    4,  Eilias.  born  27th  July.   1754;    5,  Thomas,  horn  21st 
December,  1755  ;  and  6,  Nathan,  birth  not  recorded. 

4.  Elias  married  Mary  Ware,  Gth  May,  1779,  and  had  :  Eldod, 
Seneca,  Esther,  Polly  ;  Rosalinda,  married  John  AUe^-  from  Xew 
Bedford  ;  Betsey,  married  in  Maine  ;  and  Watts,  not  married. 

5.  Thomas  married  Rebecca  Stanley,  and  had  :  Rebecca,  mar- 
ried Cahin  Fennel,  of  Colraine  (see  Calvin  S.  in  biographical 
sketches);  Thomas  Stanlej'.  born  3d  December,  1788;  Stephen, 
born  23d  October,  1792;  Horace  (see  biographical  sketches); 
Lj-dia  Bishop,  born  30th  July,  1798. 

6.  Nathan  married  Eunice  Guild,  and  had  :  Eunice,  born  24th 
December,  1778;  Jemima,  born  21st  April,  1780;  Chloe,  born 
31st  August,  1782;  Sj-nthe,  married  Nathan  Place,  of  Cumber- 
land, and  died  early;  Nathan,  .Jr.,  born  2d  February,  1788. 

7.  Nathan,  Jr.,  married  Margaret,  and  had:  Emehne  Copps, 
Cynthia  Place,  and  Harriet  Emily. 

None  of  this  branch  now  remains  in  town. 

THE    METCALF   FAMILY. 

This  numerous  family  has  been  traced  by  Dr.  J.  G.  Metcalf  of 
Mendon,  to  Rev.  Leonard  Metcalf,  rector  of  Tatterford,  Eng- 
land, born  1545,  through  his  son  Michael,  who  fled  from  the  per- 
secutions of  Bishop  Wren,  and  settled  in  Dedham  with  his  wife 
and  nine  children  in  1(J37.  Michael,  his  oldest  son,  had  five  chil- 
dren, of  whom  four,  at  least,  settled  in  Wrentham,  viz. :  Mary, 
married  John  AVare ;  Sarah,  married  Robert  Ware ;  Jonathan,  and 
1,  Eleazer. 

1.  Eleazer,  born  20th  March,  1G53,  was  an  original  member 
and  the  second  deacon  of  the  Wrentham  church.  He  married 
Melatiah  Fisher  9th  April,  1684,  and  died  17th  August,  1742. 
He  had  eight  children  :  2,  Eleazer,  Jr.,  born  30th  May,  1685;  3, 
Michael,  born  25th  Januarj',  1687;  4,  Samuel,  born  15th  June, 
1689;  5,  Ebenezer,  born  8th  January,  1691;  6,  Jonathan,  born 
9th  April,  1693;  Melatiah,  married  James  Checver ;  7,  Timothy, 
born  2d  July,  1697;  Martha,  married  Jabish  Hills. 

3.  Michael  married  Abial  Colburn  23d  December,  1712,  and 
had  twelve  children.  He  was  an  original  member  and  a  ruling 
elder  in  the  Franklin  church.  He  had  :  8,  Pelatiah,  born  28th 
March,  1714;  9,  Michael,  born  24th  January,  1719;  10,  Barna- 


260  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

bas,  born  •20th  Jul}'.  1720;  Melatiah,  married  Joseph  Ellis;  11, 
Joseph,  born  20th  February,  1723,  a  doctor;  12,  John,  born  25th 
September,  1725;  13.  Ebenezer,  also  a  doctor,  born  1st  June, 
1727;  14.  James,  lioni  1st  August,  1729;  Mary,  married  John 
Smith  ;  Abiel,  married  Michael  Ware  ;  Esther,  married  Asa  Fisher. 

4.  Samuel,  married  Judith  C4eorge,  20th  May,  1725,  and  had 
three  sons  and  four  daughters.  Of  these  were  :  15,  George,  born 
2d  June,  1730  ;   10,  John,  born  3d  July,  1734. 

6.  Jonathan,  married  Hannah  Clark,  was  deacon  of  Medway 
church.  He  had  one  son.  17,  Jonathan,  and  five  daughters  :  Han- 
nah, Lois,  Abigail,  Jerusha,  and  Sarah. 

9.  Michael  married  Hannah  Adams  16th  December,  1741. 
They  had  ten  children,  of  whom  the  following  survived  :  18,  Eli, 
born  14th  October,  1742;  19,  Philemon,  born  14th  April,  1752; 
20,  Titus,  born  23d  April,  1754;  21.  Hanan,  born  6th  October, 
1756;  Molly,  married  John  Merrifield ;  Achsa,  married  Simeon 
Partridge  ;  Patty,  married  Nathan  Metcalf. 

10.  Barnabas  married  Rebeka  Hcaly.  5th  March,  1745,  and 
had  seven  children,  of  whom  two  are  known  to  have  had  families 
in  Franklin:  22,  Asa,  born  16th  May,  1754;  23,  Nathan,  born 
26th  February,  1765. 

11.  Joseph  married  Hannah .     They  had  six  children, 

baptized  in  Franklin,  viz.:  Martha,  Mehitable,  Luther,  Susanna, 
Cahdn,  and  Joseph.     Of  them  no  more  is  known. 

13.  Ebenezer  married  Hannah  Morse  27th  November,  1755. 
He  was  the  first  physician  in  West  Precinct  (see  biographical 
sketches).  They  had:  Elijah,  baptized  14th  November,  1756; 
Polly,  born  26th  Augu.st,  175S;  24,  Paul,  born  7th  March,  1766, 
(see  biographical  sketches) . 

14.  James  married  Abial  Haven.  He  was  Colonel,  and  had 
seven  children  :  25,  Bill\-,  afterwards  changed  to  William  Haven, 
born  23d  December,  1754;  Jerusha,  married  Nathan  Wight ;  26, 
James,  born  11th  August,  1755  (so  recorded);  Juletta,  married 
C.apt.  Asa  Fairbanks  ;  Eliab,  born  11th  January,  1767  ;  Abijah, 
born  19th  October,  1770,  and  Polly. 

15.  George  married  Joanna,  daughter  of  Ezra  Pond,  6th  June, 
1751,  and  had  ten  children.  The  sons  were:  27,  Samuel,  bom 
21st  May,  1753  ;  2S.  Timothy,  born  27th  November,  1754;  29, 
George,  born  27th  Jul}-,  1769. 


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GENEALOGICAL    NOTICES.  261 

16.  John,  doctor,  married  Euuice  Metcalf  (see  biogi-aphieal 
sketches).  They  had:  30,  Ferdinand,  born  22d  November. 
1760  (see  biographical  sketches);  31,  WilUam  Pitt,  born  30th 
June,  1774  (see  biographical  sketches). 

17.  Jonathan,  Jr.,   married   Bathsheba  ,  and    lived   in 

North  Franklin.  He  had  seven  children.  Among  them:  32, 
Jonathan,  deacon  of  West  Medway  church,  I)orn  20th  April, 
1763. 

20.  Titus  man-ied,  first,  Peggj-  Fisher,  13th  November,  1783; 
second,  Eunice  Lawrence,  8th  May,  1793.  He  was  blind.  He 
had:  Peggy,  born  12th  September,  1791  ;  Paul,  born  28th  Feb- 
ruary, 1796. 

21.  Hanan  married,  lirst,  Mary  Allen,  21st  October,  1779; 
second.  Prudence  Keith.  He  lived  at  the  south  end  of  the  Com- 
mon. His  children  were:  .Judson,  died  j'oung;  Therou  (see 
biographical  sketches);  Achsah,  married  Caleb  Fisher. 

22.  Asa  married,  first,  Ruth  Clark,  6th  November,  1782  ;  sec- 
ond Melia  Ware,  12th  March,  1788.  They  had  :  Mary  ;  Asa,  Jr., 
born  4th  April,  1786;  Elivira  married  Luther  Gowen ;  MeUa 
married  Samuel  Byram  Fisher,  and  removed  to  Alstead,  N.  II.  ; 
Artemas,  died  young. 

23.  Nathan  married  Patty  Metcalf,  18th  September,  1788. 
She  died  27th  June,  1809,  and  he  married  Abigail  Richardson 
28th  June,  1810.  He  died  13th  June,  1843.  His  children  were  : 
Harvej-,  born  13th  June,  1789;  Sena,  married  Rufus  Miller; 
Junia,  born  20th  July,  1794;  Olive,  married  Seth  Wardworth ; 
Nathan,  born  26th  March,  1799  ;  33,  Michael,  born  12th  August, 
1802  ;  Pattj' ;  Roxana,  died  3'oung  ;  Abigail  R.,  died  young  ;  Abi- 
gail Larinda  ;  34,  Richardson,  born  3d  .June,  1818  ;  Juliana. 

24.  Dr.  Paul  (see  biographical  sketches)  married  Persis  Rich- 
ardson 2d  February,  1791.  Had  only:  Persis,  born  20th  June, 
1792,  married  Maxcy  Fisher  8th  December,  1811. 

25.  BiUy,  or  William  Haven,  married  Patty  Richardson  14th 
Jan.,  1776,  and  had  :  35,  Willard,  born  3d  Februarj-,  1777  ;  Polly, 
died  young  ;  Margaret,  died  young  ;  Patty,  married  John  Crooks  ; 
Ebenezer,  died  young;  36,  William,  born  8th  March,  1790  ;  Abi- 
gail ;  Mary,  married  Henry  Daniels  ;  Elizabeth. 

26.  Deacon  James  married  Abigail  Harding  1st  April,  1778. 
The   first   marriage  after  incorporation   of  town.      She  died  3d 


262  HTSTOET   OF   FRANKLIN. 

February-,  1815,  and  he  married  widow  Olive  Gilmore.  He  died 
18th  July.  1843.  Their  children  were  :  37,  Whiting,  born  31st 
January.  1779;  Alfred  (see  biographical  sketches);  Eliab  (see 
biographical  sketches);  Julitta,  married  Capt.  Samuel  Allen  of 
Medway  ;  Electa,  unmarried. 

31.  William  Pitt,  "Dr.,"  married  Susanna  Torrey.  25th  No- 
vember, 1800,  and  had:  .John  George,  "Dr."  (see  biographical 
sketches);  Marj- Elizabeth,  married  Hiram  Stone  ;  William Torry, 
born  6th  February.  1806  ;  Ebenezer  Torry,  born  30th  October, 
1812. 

32.  Jonathan,   deacon  of   the    West  Medway    Congregational 

church,  married  Mary and  had  eight  children,  among  them 

EHel,  born  14th  July,  1803  ;  Albert,  born  20th  September,  1808, 
(see  biographical  sketches) . 

33.  Michael,  Jr.,  married  first  Sally  Clark,  second  Melia Brack, 
and  had  four  children. 

34.  Richardson,  married  first  Mary  A.  Baker,  second  Harriet 
Metcalf.  He  lives  on  the  old  homestead.  A  view  of  it  is  given  as 
it  is  to-day  opposite  the  previous  page. 

35.  Willard  married  Lucy  Allen  25th  Januar}',  1802,  and  had 
five  children.  One  only  survived,  Charles,  born  22d  November, 
1810,  who  married  Eliza  Cook. 

36.  William  married  Sally  Gaskill  loth  Januarj-,  1817,  and  had 
two  sons  :  William  Warren  (see  biographical  sketches)  and  Alfred 
Gibbs. 

37.  Whiting,  deacon  of  Medway  tillage  church,  married  Betsey 
Dean,  October,  1804,  and  had  eight  children,  of  whom  these  sur- 
vived :  Abijah  Whiting,  born  7th  December.  1805  ;  Gilbert  Dean, 
born  17th  April,  1807;  Alfred  Harding,  born  27th  April,  1817; 
Erasmus  B.,  born  8th  August,  1819;  Charles  Edwards,  born  3d 
February,  1822.  Betsey  Whiting  married  George  F.  Kingman, 
and  resides  in  New  Bedford. 

THE    MILLER   FAMILY 

has  been  substantiall}'  given  under  the  biographical  sketches,  but 
a  view  of  the  home  of  this  family  finds  its  appropriate  place  here 
among  other  households.  The  Miller  Hospital  will  be  found  among 
the  notices  of  Franklin  physicians.  The  Miller  family  came  from 
Rehoboth.     Two  sons  of  Phihp,  viz.  ;  Philip,  Jr.,  and  Nathaniel 


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GENEALOGICAL   NOTICES.  263 

(see  biographical  sketches) .     Pliilip,  married  Lephe ,  and 

had  several  children.  He  was  a  man  of  some  peculiarities,  and 
one  of  the  first  and  most  ardent  advocates  of  temperance.  Both 
families  are  without  representatives  in  town. 

THE    MORSE    FAMILY. 

Samuel,  the  petitioner  of  1738,  was  descended  through  Dea. 
John,  of  Watertown,  from  Samuel,  immigrant,  of  Dedham,  1637, 
and  of  whom  the  "  JMorse  Genealogy  "  gives  a  full  account. 

Samuel  above  was  son  of  Samuel  and  Sarah  Hill,  of  Wrentham, 
born  7th  June,  1702,  and  died  "ioth  April,  1782.  The}'  had  :  Sam- 
uel, Jr.  Benoni.  Sarah ;  married  Robert  Worsely.  Hannah ; 
married  Dr.  Ebenezer  Metcalf.  (See  biographical  sketches.) 
By  second  wife,  Sarah  Wheeler,  he  had  Dinah  ;  married  Abijah 
Newton.     Hannah.     Submit ;  married  Abraham  Amsden. 

Samuel,  Jr..  born  4th  May,  1733  ;  married  Sarah  Day.  He 
died  3d  June.  1798.  She  died  "i.'^.d  January.  1800.  They  had 
eleven  children,  of  whom  Samuel  died  in  the  army  at  Fort  George, 
26th  July,  1776.  The  others  were :  Jason;  Peggy;  married  Syl- 
vester Partridge,  of  Franklin.  Levi ;  married  Keturah  Fisher. 
Hannah  ;  married  Solomon  Blake. 

Jason,  born   IStth  October.   1762;    married,  first,  Olive  Blake. 

She  died  19th  November,  1790  ;  m.arried,  second.  Esther , 

died  21st  December,  1804  ;  married,  third,  Miriam  Smith,  of  Nor- 
ton. He  had  nine  children  :  Olive  ;  married  .Sydney  Whiting.  Ja- 
son, removed  to  Grafton.  Hai-vej- ;  removed  to  Enfield.  Luc}- ; 
married  Piam  BuUard.  Joseph.  George  W. ;  removed  to  Rutland, 
Vt.  Amos  H.  ;  removed  to  Syracuse,  N.  Y.  Caroline  :  married 
Calvin  Smith,  and  removed  to  Dorchester. 

Darius,  who  lived  in  the  rear  of  the  old  meeting-house,  de- 
scended from  the  same  Samuel,  but  through  the  line  of  Joseph 
and  Hannah  (Phillips),  of  Dorchester,  via  Jeremiah  and  Eliza- 
beth, of  Medfield,  Benjamin  and  Sarah  (Blake)  of  Wrentham, 
and  Moses  and  Lydia  (Daniels)  of  Wrentham.  Darius,  born 
29th  Maj-.  1769  ;  married  '•  Pede  "  or  Experience  Adams.  They 
had  nine  children  :  Moses,  married  Lydia  Thompson  and  removed 
to  Middlefield.  0.  Rhoda,  married  Jedediah  Phipps,  and  had  four 
children.  The  others  died  unmarried,  or  without  issue,  in  rapid 
succession  from  consumption. 


264  HISTORY   OP   FRANKLIN. 

NEWE    FAMILY. 

James,  the  petitioner,  made  apparentl_y  but  a  short  staj'  in  town, 
as  I  find  few  records  of  liim  or  liis  family  either  in  Wrentham  or 
Franlvlin.  He  was  already  married  on  arrival,  and  has  only  one 
birth  entered.  He  is  said  to  have  been  a  grave-stone  cutter,  as 
was  also  his  son  John.  I'robably  the  longevity  of  the  inhabitants 
compelled  his  withdrawal.  His  second  wife  lived  over  a  century. 
Many  anecdotes  still  survive  her.  She  originated  the  sa^'ing  of 
"  trusting  in  Providence  till  her  saddle-girth  broke." 

James  was  son  of  John  and  ]\Iary,  born  in  AVrenthani  8th  Jul}', 
1722,  and  married,  first,  Mary  or  Mercy,  and  afterwards  Mrs.  Sarah 
(Blake)  Fisher  of  Keene,  N.  H.  He  had  :  Mere}',  Mary ;  James, 
born  3d  September,  1751,  and  John,  born  26th  May,  1755.  They 
probably  returned  to  Wreutham. 

PARTRIDGE    FAMILY 

came  probably  from  Medfleld,  as  two  families  of  this  name  were 
among  the  early  settlers  of  Medfield  — •  William  and  John,  and 
none  of  the  names  appears  inWrentham  earlier  than  1711.  Three 
families  were  in  Franklin  in  1738  —  Ebenezer,  Job,  and  Samuel. 
The  children  of  these  so  far  as  recorded  at  Wrentham  were  :  Of 
Job  and  Abigail,  Benoni,  born  24th  March,  1727.  His  wife  died 
1st  April  following,  and  he  married  Ann  Cook  28th  February, 
1729.  Had  Jobe,  died  at  12  years.  Anna  first  and  second; 
Rhoda  died  at  7  3-ears.  Seth  born  20th  March,  1737.  Levi,  22d 
September,  1739.  Of  this  family  no  more  is  known.  Their  stones 
are  the  oldest  legible  in  the  Central  cemetery. 

Of  Ebenezer  and  Elizalieth.  Elizabeth  died  in  her  8th  j-ear. 
Hannah  married  probablj'  David  Wood  8th  Maj-,  1771  ;  and  Abi- 
gail married  John  Allen  11th  July,  1771,  and  this  family  also 
ends. 

Samuel  and  Mary.  He  died  25th  December,  1774.  She  died 
29th  July,  1775.  They  had:  Samuel;  Amos,  born  25th  July, 
1742,  "  Lieutenant,"  and  married  Melitiah  ;  Reuben,  born  14th 
April,  1744,  and  married  Mary  Hill,  7th  April,  1768.  Mary  mar- 
ried Jon.athan  Hawes  5th  March,  1764.  Rhoda;  David,  born 
22d  July,  1750;  died  November,  1781.  Elizabeth,  born  8th  Oc- 
tober, 1752. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTICES.  265 

Samuel,  Jr.,  boiu  31st  March,  1741,  married  Keziah  Hawes  2d 
February,  1764,  but  no  children  have  been  found.  He  died  28th 
January,   1776. 

The  Partridges  appearing  later  cannot  be  traced  to  any  of  these 
parental  nests.     They  may  have  alighted  from  Medway. 

Eleazer  and  Lois  Rockwood  had  :  Mehitable,  born  21)th  May. 
1779  ;  Kezia,  born  10th  September,  1780  ;  Eleazer,  Jr..  and  Itha- 
mar,  born  27th  May,  17S2  (latter  died  7th  April.  1807)  :  Nathan. 
born  1st  August,  1786;  Asa,  married  I'olly  Richardson;  no  chil- 
dren. 

Phineas,  .Jr.,  married,  first,  Abigail,  and  had:  Allen,  born  18th 
January,  1804  ;  Abigail  Harding,  married,  G.  Wellington  Hunt  of 
Medway ;  Elmira ;  Dianthe ;  Clarissa  Prentiss  married  Rev.  A. 
Hawes  (see  biographical  sketches) .  He  married,  second,  Polly 
Wheeler  and  had  :  Asa,  born  7th  August,  1820  ;  John  Wheeler, 
born  5th  Januarj',  1822  ;  Charles,  born  2d  February,  1831. 

Nat|ian  married  Sallj'  Bassett  12th  .January,  181.5,  and  had 
Julitta  Richardson ;  Mary  Bassett ;  George  Ithamar ;  Harriet 
Maria,  married Miller  of  Providence,  R.  I.  ;  Charlotte. 

Eleazer,  Jr.,  married,  first,  Mary .  She  died  16th  Decem- 
ber, 1812,  and  he  married  Hannah  Keith.  He  had:  Marj- Clark, 
married  Rev.  W.  Phipps  (see  biographical  sketches)  ;  Lois  Rock- 
wood  ;  Sylvia  Poud,  married  Joseph  Lovell  of  Medwaj-.  By  second 
wife  he  had  Julia  Ann,  Eliza  Jane,  and  Harriet  Keith. 

Elisha  of  Medfield,  who  resided  in  Franklin  during  his  life  and 
married  Dorcas  Pond,  had  six  chikb'en,  five  of  whom  migrated  to 
Maine.  Simeon,  the  oldest,  born  19th  Ma3",  1758,  remained  and 
married  Achsa,  daughter  of  Michael  Metcalf.  He  died  7th  .Jan- 
uary, 1825.  She  died  loth  December,  1819.  Thej-  h.ad  :  Achsa, 
married  Alpheus  Adams  ;  Rena,  married  James  Gilmore  ;  Miriam, 
married  Simeon  Powers  of  Croyden ;  Hannah,  married  David  W. 
Daniels. 

THE    POND    FAMILY.* 

1.  Daniel,  immigi'ant  ancestor  of  all  the  Ponds  in  Franklin,  ap- 
pears first  in  Dedham,  1652  ;  bought  lands  in  Wrentham,  1G63,  on 
which  some  of  his  sons  settled.    He  married,  first,  Abigail,  daugh- 


*  From  a  Genealogy  compiled  by  E.  X>.  Harris,  Saratoga,  N.  Y.    For  con- 
venient reference  the  same  figures  are  used  as  in  the  "  Genealogy." 


266  HISTORY   OF   FRANKLIN. 

ter  of  Edward  Shepard,  of  Cambridge  ;  second,  Ann  Edwards. 
She  died  6th  June,  1732,  aged  about  92.  He  died  in  Dedham, 
4th  February,  1698.  He  had  thirteen  children,  of  whom  three 
sons  lived  in  Wrentham :  4,  John  ;  .5,  Ephraim,  baptized  6th 
July,  1656  ;  9,  Robert,  born  5th  August,  1667. 

4.  John  settled  in  North  Franklin,  afteiwards  set  off  to  Med- 
way ;  was  thrice  married,  and  was  living  in  1734;  had  nine  chil- 
dren ;  two  only  appear  to  have  lived  in  Franklin.  15,  John,  born 
about  1688;   17,  David,  born  2d  April.  161)0. 

.').  Ephraim,  a  carpenter,  married  Deborah,  daughter  of  Edward 
and  Eleouy  (Lumber)  Hawes.  He  died  22d  December,  1704,  and 
she  married  a  Bacon.  Had  nine  children  :  26,  Daniel,  born  22d 
September,  1689,  died  unmarried;  27,  Deborah,  liorn  13th  Sep- 
tember, 1693,  and  married  Daniel  Thurston;  28,  Samuel,  born 
29th  December,  1695;  29,  Eleony,  born  15th  August,  1704,  and 
married  John  Shepard,  of  Foxboro,  who  lived  a  hundred  years 
and  in  four  towns  without  moving. 

9.  Robert,  Captain,  and  carpenter,  lived  near  Mine  Brook.  He 
married,  first,  Joanna  Lawrence;  second,  Abigail  Fisher;  third, 
widow  Sarah  Shuttleworth.  He  had  nine  children :  35,  Anne, 
born  2d  October,  1689,  married  John  Partridge,  of  Medfield ;  40, 
Ezra;  41,  Ichabod,  born  31st  May,  1699  ;  42,  Baruch.  born  1702  ; 
43,  Eunice,  married  John  Goldsbury. 

15.  John  had  lands  at  "  long  walk"  in  Franklin.  He  married 
Rachel  Fisher.  He  died  12th  March,  1759.  She  died  15th  Feb- 
ruar}-,  1770.  Had  six  children:  56,  .John,  born  29th  F'ebrnary, 
1723;  57,  Daniel,  born  13th  May,  1724;  58,  Benjamin,  born  loth 
June,  1726. 

17.  David  lived  also  at  "long  walk,"  and  was  of  uncommon 
height  and  strength,  hence,  perhaps,  he  pitched  the  tune  so  high 
(see  page  31).  He  was  founder  of  the  West  Medway  church.  He 
married  Sarah  Richardson,  and  died  24th  March,  1775.  Had  seven 
children:  60,  David,  went  to  Keene,  N.  H.;  61,  Stephen,  re- 
moved to  Attleboro;  63,  Ebenezer,  born  4th  July,  1728. 

26.  Daniel,  had  land  at  "  long  walk  ;"  no  record  of  his  mar- 
riage. 

28.  Samuel,  lived  at  Mine  Brook ;  married  iVIary  Thurston. 
He  died  6th  April,  1746.  She  afterwards  married  Dea.  John  Bar- 
ber, Medway.     Had  nine  children,  but  three  only  lived  in  Frank- 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTICES.  267 

lin  :  87.  Samuel,  born  22d  June.  1729.  89,  Bathsheba,  born  9th 
August.  1734;  married  Jonathan  Metcalf.  Jr.  90.  Timothy, 
born  13th  August.  1737. 

40.  Ezra,  town  clerk  of  Wrentham.  lived  at  first  on  the  home- 
stead ;  married  first  Abigail  Farrington.  second  Margaret,  widow 
of  Eleazer  Metcalf.  He  died  after  1782.  Had  eleven  children, 
all  by  first  wife.  101,  Robert,  born  2d  Februarj-,  1720.  102. 
Ezra,  born  26th  March,  1721.  103,  Abigail,  born  29th  Septem- 
ber, 1723;  married  first  a  Peter  Adams,  second  Dea.  Daniel 
Kingsbur}'.  104,  Oliver,  born  22d  March,  1725.  105,  Reuben, 
born  16th  January,  1727.  106,  James,  drowned  in  Charles  river, 
1789.  107,  Joanna,  born  2d  August,  1730  :  married  George  Met- 
calf. 108,  Hezekiah,  born  17th  March,  1733.  Ill,  Ellijah,  born 
3d  February,  1739. 

41.  Ichabod,  lived  near  Mine  Brook.  He  married  first  Milcah 
Farrington,  second  Deborah  Thurston,  third  Mehitable.  widow  of 
John  Aldis.  He  died  2d  May,  1783.  Had  twelve  children  :  113, 
Elisha,  born  2yth  March,  1725.  115,  Xathan,  went  to  Walpole. 
117,  Benjamin,  born  21st  March,  1732.  120,  Lois,  marriedHenry 
Daniel.  121,  Jonathan,  weut  to  Keene,  N.  H.  122,  Eh,  born 
16th  February,  1743. 

42.  Baruch,  a  "  chief  man  "  in  Franklin  ;  married  Abigail  Slo- 
cum.  He  died  8th  March,  1765.  She  died  30th  August,  1778. 
Had  nine  children.  124.  Timoth}',  born  15th  September,  1729. 
(See  gi-aduates.)  125,  Lydia,  horn  14th  April,  1731  ;  married 
Thomas  Bacon,  3d.  127,  Jerusha,  born  20th  October,  1735  ; 
married  Da^id  Fisher.  129,  Bettj-,  born  8th  Januar}',  1740  ;  mar- 
ried Capt.  Joseph  Hills.     132.  Asa,  born  1747. 

56.  John,  lived  in  North  Franklin  ;  was  a  founder  of  the  West 
Medwaj'  church,  and  a  ruling  elder.  He  married  Dinah  Metcalf 
and  died  10th  April,  1777.  His  widow  married  Lieut.  Hezekiah 
Fisher.  He  had  five  children  :  154,  Malchiah,  born  30th  Septem- 
ber, 174G.  157,  John,  born  20th  August,  1752;  not  married; 
was  a  Revolutionarj'  soldier. 

57.  Daniel.     (See  list  of  college  graduates.) 

58.  Benjamin,  married  Mar}'  Park,  of  Hopkinton.  He  died 
22d  February-,  1787.  Had  eight  children:  was  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary war.     165,  Benjamin,  born  1st  October,  1757.     166,  Bar- 


268  HISTORY   OP   FRANKLIN. 

zillai,  bora  27th  July,  1759.  167,  Elihu,  born  16th  May,  1763. 
168,  Rachel,  married  Amos  Ware  and  died  in  1818. 

63.     Ebenezer,  married  Freelove ,  and  had  ten  children. 

Removed  to  Oswego,  N.  Y.,  and  died  there  March,  1821.  Was 
a  Revolutionar}^  soldiei'. 

178.  Penuel,  Lorn  23d  November,  17.")7;  not  married.  Was 
in  the  war.  180,  Jane,  married  Eleazer  Perry,  and  died  27th 
April,  1856. 

72.  .Toseph,  married  Mary  Newland,  and  died  21st  November, 
1773.  She  married  Joseph  Day.  Had  four  children  :  188,  Oliver 
Newland,  born  18th  March,  1769.  189,  Darius,  removed  to 
Alstead,  N.  H.,  and  then  West.     190,  Joseph.    Not  known  further. 

87.  Samuel,  a  founder  of  the  West  Medway  church,  married 
Hannah  Johnson,  of  Uxbridge,  and  died  24th  April,  1806.  Had 
nine  children:  197,  Samuel,  born  15th  November,  1753;  not 
married.  (See  Revolutionary  soldiers) .  199,  William,  born  23d 
March,  1758.  200,  Paul,  bom  11th  May,  1760.  (See  Revolu- 
tionary soldiers.)  202,  Marv,  married  Benajah  Pond.  203,  EUza- 
beth,  born  6th  January-,  1767;  married  Lewis  (281).  204, 
Henry,  joined  the  "  N.  W.  Fur  Co.,"  and  died  on  his  way  to 
Canada.  205,  Jemima,  born  20th  December,  1771  ;  married 
Oliver  (259). 

90.  Timothy,  married  Sarah  Cutler,  and  died  27th  October, 
1776.  She  died  23d  March,  1816.  He  was  a  Revolutionary 
soldier.  He  had  five  children  :  206,  Sarah,  married  first,  Ichabod 
Hawes,  second  .Jeremy  Leland,  of  Holliston.  208,  Timothj', 
born  14th  January,  1769.  209,  Esther,  married  Oliver  N.  (188). 
210,  Cutler,  born  24th  August,  1774. 

101.  Robert;  his  house  is  now  occupied  by  .Jefferson  Daniels, 
and  is  one  of  the  oldest  in  town.  He  married  first  Rachel  Adams, 
second  Rebecca.  He  died  15th  September,  1801.  Had  seven 
children :  235,  Sarah,  married  John  Ellis.  237,  Robert,  born 
29th  December,  1755. 

102.  Ezra,  "  Ensign,"  married,  first,  Sarah  Morse,  of  Wrent- 
ham,  second,  Mercy  Baker,  of  Bellingham.  In  1771  he  removed 
to  Hubbardston,  and  died  there  in  1802.  Had  eight  children,  born 
in  Franklin  :  244,  Joseph,  born  12th  May,  1756,  and  removed 
to  Hubbardston.      (See  Revolutionar}-  soldiers.) 

104.   Oliver;  sold  his  farm  to  David  Daniels,   now   the    Rock- 


GKNEALOGICAL   NOTICES.  269 

wood  estate,  and  re-bought  the  farm  and  built  the  house  now 
occupied  by  Goldsbury  I'ond,  at  Uniouville.  He  married  Anne, 
daughter  of  Samuel  Metcalf;  died  14th  December,  ISOO.  She 
died  31st  of  July,  1817.  Had  twelve  children  :  252,  Judith,  mar- 
ried Asa  Pond  (132).  253,  Chloe,  married  Ichabod  Dean.  2.57, 
Edna,  married  Seth  Dean.  260,  Goldsbur^',  born  28th  September, 
1770.  261,  Anne,  not  married.  263,  Samuel  Metcalf,  born  16th 
November,  1777.      (.See  gradusitcs.) 

108.    Hezekiah  married  Lois .     He  died  8th  December, 

1822.  Had  eight  children  :  267,  Benajah,  born  date  unknown  ; 
273,  Jeremiah  Metcalf,  born  12th  February,  1781.  ' 

111.  Elijah.  "  Captain,"  left  Franklin  in  1785  for  Grafton,  and 
died  in  Torrington,  Conn.,  in  1830.  His  fine  farm  in  FrankUn 
was  sold  mainly  to  Elisha  Bullard.  He  married,  first,  Margaret, 
daughter  of  Eleazer  Metcalf;  second,  Mehitable,  daughter  of  Dr. 
Silas  Pratt  of  Wrentham.  (See  Revolutionary  soldiers.)  Had 
thirteen  children,  none  of  whom  settled  in  Franklin. 

113.  Elisha,  carpenter,  married  first  Phebe  Ware,  second  Me- 
hitable Cheever.  He  died  30th  May,  1796.  Had  ten  children: 
300,  Elisha,  born  21st  February,  1749.  "  Doctor."  (See  grad- 
uates.) 306,  Apollos,  born  12th  June,  1764.  (See  Revolntion- 
ary  soldiers.)     308,  Jemotis,  born  23d  October,  1772. 

117.  Benjamin,  married  Lois  Partridge  of  Medwaj',  aud  died 
27th  December,  1809.  Had  nine  children:  315,  Amos,  born 
19th  .Tune,  1758,  not  married.  (See  Revolutionary  soldiers.) 
316,  Meletiah,  married  Abijah  Clark;  317,  Ichaltod,  born  22d 
February,  1762;  318,  Ziba,  born  27th  February,  1764;  319, 
Leonard,  born  14th  February,  1767;  320,  Nathan,  born  20th 
April,  1769  ;  321,  Lois,  married  David  Lawrence  ;  322,  Benjamin, 
born  2.3d  October,  1773. 

122.  Eli  (see  Revolutionary  soldiers),  born  and  died  in 
Franklin,  but  lived  also  in  Holliston,  Medway  and  Bellingham. 
He  married  Huldah  Hill,  and  died  20th  May,  1802.  Had  twelve 
children:  333,  Eli,  born  17th  November.  1769;  337,  Eliab,  born 
1st  October,  1779,  not  married;  340,  Lucinda,  married  Eliakim 
Morse  and  went  to  Oakham  ;  342,  Asa  Aldis,  born  19th  Febru- 
ary, 1792. 

132.  Asa,  "  Captain"  and  first  town  clerk  of  Frankhu,  bought 
the  farm  of  Perez  Cushing  on  Mine  Brook.    In  1792  sold  to  'Levi 


270  HISTORY    OP    FRANKLIN. 

Fisher  and  ultimately  removed  to  Petersham.  (See  Revolution- 
ary soldiers.)  He  married  Judith  Pond,  daughter  of  Oliver,  104, 
and  had  six  children. 

154.  Malchiah  (see  Revolutionary  soldiers)  married  Ruth 
Fisher,  and  died  14th  March,  1804.  Had  five  children.  391,  Otis, 
born  26th  December,  1771  ;  392,  Lewis,  born  3d  July,  1773  ;  395, 
Malchiah,  born  17th  October,  1787. 

165.  Benjamin  (see  Revolutionary  soldiers),  married  Catherine 
Cutler,  and  had  eleven  children.  He  finally  moved  to  Hopkinton 
and  died  there  in  1845.  396,  John,  born  21st  February,  1783, 
became  a  physician  in  Mendon.  339,  Benjamin,  born  4th  April, 
1789.      (See  graduates.)     401,  Hiram  went  to  Salem. 

166.  Barzillai  (see  Revolutionary  soldiers)  manied  Melli- 
cent,  daughter  of  Captain  Asa  and  Sarah  Fairbanks.  In  1804  he 
removed  to  West  Medway  and  died  in  1823.  (See  Revolutionaiy 
soldiers.)  Had  five  children  :  407,  Sarah,  married  Baruch  Pen- 
niman,  the  father  of  Daniel  T. 

167.  Elihu  (see  military)  married  first  Polly,  daughter  of  John 
Boyd,  second  Jemima,  daughter  of  EUsha  and  Mary  (Pond  91) 
Cutler,  third  Marena  Allen.  He  was  Justice  of  the  Peace  and 
esteemed  for  his  piety.  He  had  ten  children  :  Polly  Boj-d,  married 
David  P.  Blake  ;  Elihu,  went  to  Paxton  ;  Emily,  still  in  Frank- 
lin ;  Edward,  died  in  Illinois  ;  Joseph  Parks,  went  to  Newton  ; 
James  Sullivan  is  in  Salem;  and  Elizabeth,  in  West  Brookfield. 

188.  Oliver  Newland  married  Esther  Pond  (209),  lived  at  the 
Center,  and  died  26th  January,  1845.  She  died  28th  February, 
1847.  They  had  five  children  :  447,  Adela,  married  Samuel  Pay- 
son  of  Holhston;  448,  Nathaniel  Ogden,  died  unmarried;  449, 
Increase  Sumner,  born  21st  July,  1801  ;  450,  Esther,  married 
George  W.  Morse  of  Rutland,  Vt. 

199.  WiUiam  married  Marj'  Hide  of  Medway  and  died  21st 
July,  1843.     Had  five  children,  none  remained  in  town. 

200.  Paul  (see  Revolutionary  soldiers)  married  Calley  Dexter 
of  Medwaj',  and  had  a  son  born  in  Franklin.  470,  Paul  Dexter, 
born  20th  May,  1784.  He  went  to  Sudbury,  Vt.,  and  died  in 
Richmond,  O.,  in  1843. 

208.  Timothy,  Lieutenant,  married  Rachel  Adams  of  Medway. 
He  died  17th  June,  1829.  Had  nine  children :  477,  Justin,  born 
6th  July,  1791 ;  476,  Timothy  Leland,  born  27th  September,  1794 ; 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTICES.  271 

479,  Sylvia,  not  married;  480,  Amanda,  married  Samuel  Haskell, 
and  had  six  children;  481,  Clarissa  Ann,  not  married ;  482,  Ly- 
man P.,  born  -ieth  October,  1805,  went  to  West  Medway  ;  483, 
Abel,  born  8th  October,  1808,  and  removed  to  Holliston;  484, 
Gilbert  C.  (see  graduates) . 

210.  Cutler,  Major,  married  first  Hannah  Wood,  second  Lydia 
Temple  of  Holliston.  He  died  3d  April,  1857.  Had  three  chil- 
dren :  486,  Clarinda,  married  Melville  Knapp  ;  487,  John  Preston, 
went  to  Eandolph,  Vt. ;  488.  Hannah  Cutler,  married  George  W. 
Nason. 

237.  Robert  (see  Revolutionary  soldiers)  married  Olive  Rich- 
ardson, and  died  19th  October,  1839.  Had  ten  children :  549, 
Callej-,  married  Amos  Bullard,  no  children;  550,  Martin,  born 
3d  October,  17.S3;  551,  Olive,  married  Samuel  Morse  of  Waldo- 
boro.  Me.;  552,  Lewis,  born  29th  August,  1790;  557,  James 
Preston,  born  2d  August,  1800. 

260.  Goldsbury,  married  Priscilla  Fisher  of  Medway.  He  died 
9th  December,  1866.  Had  three  children:  602,  Goldsbury,  Jr., 
born  27th  January.  1798;  603,  Erasmus,  born  15th  October,  1800; 
604.  Juline,  not  married. 

267.  Benajah.  "  captain"  of  artillery,  married,  first,  Mar^' Pond, 
202;  second,  Sybil  Clark.  In  1820  went  to  Crown  Point,  N.  Y., 
and  died  there  in  1857.  Had  ten  children,  seven  born  in  Franklin  : 
625,  Willard,  born  11th  November,  1791  ;  626,  Roxena,  married 
Jeremiah  Claflin ;  630,  Benajah,  went  to  North  Hudson,  N.  Y. 

273.  Jeremiah  M.  married  Polly  Morse,  and  died  2d  .Tune, 
1827.  Had  five  children:  635,  Lyman,  went  to  Valley  Falls,  R. 
I.;  637,  Asa,  born  4th  .Januarj',  1815,  went  to  Milford  ;  638,  Eliab 
Metcalf,  born  8th  October,  1819. 

308.  .Jemotis  lived  on  the  homestead.  He  married  Sally  Gil- 
more,  and  in  1832  Miranda  Thurston.  He  died  20th  April,  1843, 
from  a  fall.  Had  seven  children  :  725,  Jemotis.  died  without  issue 
in  Medway  in  1847;  726,  Hiram,  born  11th  August,  1798;  727, 
Sumner,  born  24th  August,  1800,  went  to  Milford;  728,  Gilmore, 
born  12th  May,  1803,  lived  in  Natick ;  729,  Sally,  born  1st  May, 
1807.  married  Wm.  Barnard  in  Medwaj' ;  730,  Elizabeth  G.,  born 
7th  February,  1810,  married  a  Bellows,  and  left  town. 

320.  Nathan  manied  first  Rachel  Clark,  second  widow  Olive 
(Penuiman)  Marsh.     He  died  3d  September,  1850.     Had  four 


272  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

children  :    742,  Nathan  Clark,  born  I8th  April,  1798,  and  removed 
to  Medway;  743,  Rachel,  married  Charles  V.  Knapp,  of  Jledway  ; 

744,  Nelson,  born  9th  January,  1803,  and  removed  to  Holliston ; 

745,  Alfred,  born  30th  March,  1806,  and  left  town. 

322.  Benjamin  married  Lj'dia,  daughter  of  Timothy  Ellis. 
Died  3d  December,  1844.  Had  six  children :  747,  Benjamin 
Davis,  born  21st  January,  1805;  749,  Miranda  Ellis,  married 
Lyman  P.  White ;  750,  Charlotte,  married  Daniel  T.  Penniman. 

333.  Eli  married,  first,  Hannah  Daniels,  of  Holliston;  second, 
Ruth  (Wiswell),  widow  of  Dr.  Daniel  Bullard,  of  HoUiston.  He 
died  16th  October,  1846.     Had  three  children,  who  left  town. 

342.  Asa  Aldis  removed  to  Calais,  Me.,  and  married.  He  died 
at  Ellsworth,  Me.,  14th  October,  1853.  His  daughter,  Huldah  A., 
married  Hon.  Harrison  Tweed,  of  Taunton. 

449.  Increase  S.  married  Clarinda,  daughter  of  Nathan  and 
Hannah  Allen,  and  died  in  Bellingham  20th  February,  1840.  Had 
three  children,  who  died  young. 

477.  Justin  married  Ruth  D.  Perry,  and  died  19th  October, 
1842.  Had  ten  children,  of  whom  Justin  Eli,  Lj-dia,  Ellis,  Tim- 
othj-  and  Alvin  D.  went  to  Medwaj-;  Alexander  De  Witt,  to  Trout 
Creek,  N.  Y.     Edwin  Cutler  alone  remains  in  Franklin. 

478.  Timothy  Leland,  "  Captain,"  married  Abigail  Fisher.  He 
died  24th  May,  1836.  Had  four  children:  Silvia,  born  14th 
May,  1821 ;  George  L.,  who  lives  in  Medwa}-,  and  Edmund  F.,  in 
Vineland,  N.  J. 

550.  Martin  married  Amy  Elderkin,  of  Windham,  Conn.  Had 
seven  children.  One  only  lived  in  town:  Ilenr^-  Boweu,  married 
Ann  Maria  (Bent).  He  died  1st  May,  1855,  leaving  one  child, 
Inez  Etta. 

553.    Lewis,  married  Nancy  Ware,' of  Dedham.     No  children. 

557.  James  Preston,  married  Sukie,  daughter  of  Seth  and  Olive 
Whiting,  and  removed  to  Waldoboro,  Me.,  but  returned  to  Frank- 
lin.    Had  five  children. 

602.  Goldsbury,  Jr.,  married  Julia  Ann,  daughter  of  Seth 
Harding,  and  has  had  eleven  children  :  Anna  Metcalf,  married  J. 
Francis  Atwood,  of  Philadelphia.  She  is  now  a  widow  in  Frank- 
lin. Goldsbury  Harding  ;  married  and  resides  out  of  town.  Eras- 
mus Allington.  (See  graduates.)  Edwin  James;  Oliver  Dean; 
Metcalf  Everett.     (See  biographical  notices.) 


'■«% 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTICES.  273 

603.  Erasmus  married  Ruth  M.  Snow  and  died  17th  October, 
1828.  She  married  Dr.  Shadrach  Atwood,  of  Bellinghara  (H.  U., 
1830,)  and  now  lives  in  town.     Thej'  have  no  cliildren. 

625.  Willard,  married  Sall_v,  daughter  of  Aaron  Hills,  Belling- 
ham.  He  died  22d  April,  1844,  leaving  one  child,  Sarali  Maria, 
who  married  John  Cashing  of  Medway.     All  are  dead. 

726.  Hiram  married  Joanna  M.  Fales,  of  Attleboro.  He  died 
22d  April,  1857.  Had  six  children  :  Jane  Elizabeth,  married 
Benjamin  Ct.  Seekel  and  went  to  Providence.  Harriet  M.  mar- 
ried first  James  B.  Wilson  of  Medwa}-,  second  Addison  S.  Shep- 
ard  of  Franklin.  James  Hiram  married  Mary  Ann,  daughter  of 
Adiu  and  Mar}'  Fisher.  Emor}'  married  Sarah  J.  W3att,  of 
Bristol,  R.  I.     Almira  L. 

745.  Alfred  married  first  Almira  Lovering,  second  Louisa 
Fisher.  He  died  2.5th  January,  1848.  Had  three  children  ;  none 
in  town.  This  once  large  famil}'  has  almost  disappeared  from 
Franklin. 

THE   KAY    FAMILY 

eame  into  Franklin  in  1839.  They  immediately  began  an  active 
business  at  UnionviUe,  as  described  under  the  head  of  Industries. 
The  three  sons  are  Joseph  G.,  James  P.  and  Frank  B.  A  jiortrait 
of  Joseph  G.  Ra\'is  given  on  the  preceding  page.  That  of  James 
P.  Ray  will  be  found  among  the  Centennial  Committee.  A  view 
of  their  two  residences,  contiguous  to  each  other,  is  in  the  notices 
of  professional  men.  Frank  B.  Ra}'  occupies  the  Makepeace 
house,  as  will  be  seen  in  notices  of  the  Rockwood  family'. 

THE    RICHARDSON    FAMILY.* 

The  immigrant  ancestor  of  this  family,  John,  settled  in  the 
present  Medway.  He  married  Rebecca,  daughter  of  Joseph  and 
Alice  Clark,  1st  Maj',  1679,  and  had  seven  children.  After  his 
death,  29th  Maj',  1697,  the  widow  married  John  HiU  of  Sherborn. 
She  died  17th  February,  1739.  The  children  were:  2,  John; 
Elizabeth,  died  unmarried ;  Daniel ;  Joseph  ;  Mehitable  ;  Benja- 
min ;  Rebecca,  married  Eleazer  Hill. 

2.    John,  born  25th  August,  1679,  married  probably  a  daughter 

•Compiled  from  Rev.  J.  A.  Vinton's  Genealogy. 
18 


274  HISTORY   OF   FRANKLIN. 

of  Jolm  Breck  of  Medfield  and  had  twelve  children.  He  died 
19th  May,  1759.  His  wife  died  at  9.5.  Of  his  children  were: 
Sarah,  married  David  Pond  of  Franklin;  3,  John;  Jonathan,  af- 
terwards of  Brookfield  ;  Esther ;  Joseph  of  Uxbridge  ;  Samuel  of 
Wreutham;  Solomon  of  lirookfleld;' Moses ;  Asa,  the  miller,  at 
Rockville ;  David  of  Barre.     A  widely-scattered  household  at  last. 

3.  John,  the  ancestor  of  the  Franklin  l)ranch,  settled  in  North 
Franklin,  his  father  bujing  for  him  fifty-three  acres  of  wild  land 
now  forming  part  of  the  farm  of  S.  AV.  Richardson,  Esq.  He 
married  Jemima,  daughter  of  lOdward  Gay,  his  neighbor  on  the 
south.  He  was  born  2"id  October,  1701,  and  died  oth  November, 
1767.  She  died  26th  December,  1782.  They  had  seven  children  : 
4,  Timothy;  5,  John;  Jerusha,  married  Nathaniel  Fisher  of  Wrent- 
ham  ;  Elizabeth,  married  Aaron  Kingsbury;  6,  Elisha;  7,  Eh. 

4.  Timothj',    born    31st  July,    1731,   married  first    Mehitable 

,  second  Betty ■.     He  lived  on  the  Phineas  Partridge 

farm,  and  had  eight  children,  of  whom  were  :  8,  Amasa  ;  Sceva  ; 
Ziba,  and  Timothy,  Jr. 

5.  John,  born  19th  Juue,  1735,  married  Abigail  Haven,  cousin 
of  the  minister;  was  a  carpenter.  He  died  4th  May,  1809.  She 
died  11th  F'ebruary,  1820.  His  house  forms  the  eastern  or  right 
hand  part  of  the  present  residence  of  S.  W.  Richardson,  Esq., 
a  view  of  which  is  given  on  the  opposite  page.  It  is  beautifully 
situated  on  the  road  to  INIedway  ^-illage,  and  commands  a  fine 
view  of  the  town  towards  the  south.  John  and  Abigail  had  four 
children  :  Jerusha,  married  William  Sloeumb,  and  afteiTvards  went 
to  Sutton  ;  Olive,  married  Robert  Pond;  L3dia  Haven,  married 
Amasa  (8);  9,  John  Wilkes. 

6.  Elisha,  born  5th  July,  1743,  married  Abigail  Lawrence. 
He  and  his  brother  Eli  l)ought  the  farm  of  Richard  and  Jemima 
Puffer  who  had  received  it  in  1091,  which  has  since  been  the  liome- 
stead  of  the  famil}-.  He  was  a  cabinet-maker,  supplying  all  the 
young  couples  with  their  first  furniture  for  miles  around.  He  died 
15th  March,  1798.  She  died  3d  October,  1827.  They  had  seven 
children  :  Polly,  married  Asa  Partridge  ;  JuUa,  married  Nathan 
Adams ;  Abigail,  married  Nathan  Metcalf ;  Nancy,  married  Dan- 
iel, brother  of  Nathan  Adams ;  Jemima,  married  Captain  David 
Baker;  10,  Elisha,  Jr. 

7.  Eli,  born  5th  August,  1745,  married  Mehitable  Farrington, 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTICES.  275 

of  Wrentham.  He  sold  his  half  of  the  farm  to  his  brother  Elisha, 
and  bought  the  present  citj-  mills,  where  he  resided.  He  had  four 
children:  John,  died  young;  Salh',  married  John  Torr\-,  Jr.; 
11,  Eli,  Jr. ;  Me]iital)le,  married  Josiah  "Ware,  of  Wrentham. 

8.  Amasa,  son  of  Timothy,  born  2yth  December,  1761  ;  mar- 
ried his  cousin,  Lydia  Haven,  and  lived  near  Davis'  Thaver's. 
He  died  17th  of  March,  1838  ;  she  died  April  following.  They 
had  four  children:  ?>liab,  married  Lydia  Bent,  of  Middleboro, 
and  went  to  Maine.  12,  Illi  Milton;  P^rastus  (see  biographical 
sketches)  ;  Eleanor,  married,  first,  Samuel  Miller,  of  Kehoboth, 
second,  Calvin  Turner,  of  Sharon,  and  now  resides  in  that  town. 

9.  Capt.  John  Wilkes,  born  30th  December,  1774;  the  first 
child  with  a  middle  name  baptized  in  Franklin.  He  married 
Matilda  Kingsbury.  He  taught  a  pulilic  school  thirty-one  con- 
secutive years,  and  filled  many  town  offices.  He  had  three  chil- 
dren :  Abigail,  married  Noyes  Payson  Hawes,  and  removed  to 
Maine.  John  Haven,  married  Louisa  Pike  and  had  Matilda.  13, 
Stephen  Wilkes. 

10.  Elisha,  Jr.,  born  17th  August,  1790  ;  married,  first,  Ruth, 
daughter  of  Levi  Fisher,  second,  Harriet,  daughter  of  Timothy 
and  Julia  (Dean)  Blake.  He  died  14th  June,  18GG.  He  was 
a  very  upright  and  faithful  citizen.  He  had :  Ruth,  Maria, 
Julietta ;  Clarissa  Da}-,  married  Dea.  Peter  Adams ;  Elisha 
Fisher,  married  Olive  D.  Ware,  and  removed  to  Long  Lsland ; 
Abigail  M. ;  Nancy  Adams,  married  Francis  J.  Adams.  He  had 
by  second  wife :  Charles  A.  and  Albert  D.  (See  biographical 
sketches.) 

11.  EU,  Jr.,  born  ,   1781;  married  Chloe  Liudley  1st 

January,  1809,  but  had  no  children.  He  was  the  first  postmaster 
in  town,  built  the  city  factor}',  and  was  a  prominent  citizen  in 
his  communitj'. 

12.  Eli  Milton,  born  24th  December,  1791  ;  married  Melita 
Norcross,  and  lived  on  the  paternal  farm  near  the  Center.  She 
died  13th  September,  1844,  and  he  married  Lydia  Eaton,  of  Fram- 
ingham.  He  die:l  3d  Januarj-,  1875.  Their  children  were  :  Em- 
eline  Melita,  married  Gilbert  Partridge,  of  Medway.  Harriet 
Newell,  married  first  Charles  Winslow,  second  Kev.  Edward  F. 
Dickinson,  of  Chicago,  111.  Wilham  Tyler,  Albert  Milton.  (See 
biographical  sketches.)     Julia  ;  Holbrook. 


276  HISTORY   OF    FRANKLIN. 

13.  Stephen  Wilkes,  born  30th  March,  1813;  received  a  thor- 
ough academic  education  and  taught  school  for  several  years ; 
was  the  first  bookkeeper  of  the  Boston  Journal,  in  1834.  He  has 
been  Eepresentative,  United  States  Internal  Eevenue  Assessor 
for  ten  years,  and  trial  justice  since  1871,  besides  filling  nearly  all 
our  municipal  offices.  His  portrait  is  inserted  opposite.  Esquire 
Richardson  married,  first,  Eliza  A.  Bullard,  of  Medway,  and  sec- 
ond, her  sister,  Mary  Bullard,  and  has  had  five  children,  of  whom 
survive  John  Warren,  on  the  paternal  estate,  and  Heniy  Bullard, 
Professor  at  Amherst  college.      (See  biographical  sketches.) 

KOCKWOOD    FAMILY.* 

1.  Eichard,  of  Dorchester,  1630,  and  next  of  Braintree.  Had 
Nicholas,  John,  and  Ljdia,  married  Edward  Adams,  of  Medfield. 
2,  Nicholas,  his  son,  removed  to  Medfield  and  afterwards  to  Med- 
way. He  died  2(itli  .Januar3-,  1080.  Had  eight  children.  Samuel, 
deacon.  2,  Benjamin,  born  8th  September,  1651,  and  removed  to 
Wrcntham.  Josiah ;  Elizabeth,  married  John  Partridge,  Jr.  ; 
Joseph  married  Hannah  Partridge;  John,  called  "Eev.,"  3, 
Nathaniel,  born  23d  Feliruary,  166.5,  and  removed  to  Wrcntham, 
and  was  deacon  there.     Isaac. 

2.  Benjamin,  who  discovered  the  Indians  at  Indian  Rock  ;  mar- 
ried Judith.  He  died  at  Wrentham  5th  December,  174.7,  in  his 
97th  year,  but  was  one  of  the  West  precinct  members.  He  had 
five  children:  Mary,  born  2d  October,  1683;  married  Samuel 
Fisher  of  Wrentham  and  died  12th  April,  1763. 

3.  Nathaniel,  brother  of  Benjamin  and  deacon  of  Wrentham 
church ;  married  Joanna  Ellis.  He  died  24th  September,  1721. 
He  had  seven  children  :  Margaret,  born  4th  September,  1699  ; 
married  Ebenezer  Metcalf.  Nathaniel,  born  yth  December,  1700  ; 
married  Margaret  Phipps.  4,  Benjamin,  born  28th  March,  1703  ; 
married  first  Mchitalile  Thompson,  second  Ruth  Man,  second 
daughter  of  Rev.  Samuel  Man.  She  died  9th  November,  1711, 
aged  91.  Hannah,  born  9th  October,  1707  ;  married  Thomas  Law- 
rence.    Abigail,  born  8th  June,  1714  ;  married  Josiah  Blake. 

4.  Benjamin,  lived  at  Mine  Brook  Vallej'  (Uniouville).  He 
died  October,  1774.     She  died  11th  November,  1811.     Had  eleven 

*Compile4  from  a  genealogy  by  Rev.  A.  Morse. 


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Genealogical  notices.  277 

children:  Keziah,  married  Francis  Daniels.  Meliitable,  born  2.5th 
October,  1734;  married  Timothy  Richardson.  Lois,  born  4th 
June,  1744  ;  married  Eleazer  Partridge.  Samuel,  born  19th  May, 
1746  ;  married  Sarah  Richardson.  5,  Timothy,  born  14th  March, 
1748-9,  married  Sarah  Phillips,  of  Bellingham.  Elisha,  settled 
in  North  Wrenlham,  and  died  1st  December,  1831.  Rachel, 
born  26th  April,  1756  ;  married  Elisha  Bullard.  Eunice,  born 
31st  July,  1758  ;  married  Samuel  Blake. 

5.  Timothy,  lived  and  died  on  the  paternal  estate  at  TJnion- 
ville,  where  he  opened  a  grocery  store  in  1782,  and  added  a 
drug  store,  tlie  first  in  the  town,  which  drew  customers  far  and 
wide.  The  store  has  been  continued  in  the  family  ever  since 
by  his  son  x\sa,  and  grandson  Erastus,  and  William,  the  present 
proprietor.  It  has  been,  too,  on  or  very  near  the  original  site, 
and  still  maintains  its  character  for  upright  dealing.  Timothy 
died  4th  December,  1841,  in  his  94th  year.  His  wife  died  20th 
March,  1827.  He  had  four  children:  Sally,  died  unmarried; 
6,  Asa,  born  25th  March,  1787  ;  Nathan,  born  9th  Janu.ary,  1798, 
married  Hannah  Miller,  and  lived  on  King  street. 

6.  Asa,  married  Julia,  daughter  of  Abijali  and  Rachel  Thurs- 
ton, and  carried  on  the  paternal  store  until  his  death.  He  had 
seven  children  :  Erastus,  born  17th  August,  1813 ;  married 
first,  INIary  Ann,  daughter  of  Joel  Daniels,  second,  Louisa  Morse  ; 
died  a  few  ye.ars  since.  Julia  Ann,  died  at  18.  Abijah  Thurston, 
born  24th  March,  1820;  married  Sarah  M.  Peck;  he  died 
recently.  Susan  Bailey,  married  Francis  B.  Ray;  they  reside 
at  ITnionville,  in  the  hovise  formerly  built  by  William  Makepeace, 
a  view  of  which  is  given  opposite.  William,  born  16th  July, 
1827,  and  married  Laura  Matilda,  daughter  of  Ira  and  Laura 
Blake  ;  his  portrait  is  given  as  one  of  the  Centennial  Committee  ; 
they  have  three  children,  sons. 

THE    SHUTTLEWOBTH    FAMILY 

had  but  two  male  representatives  —  Ebenezer  in  the  precinct  and 
Vincent  in  the  church  —  and  but  three  females  in  the  latter.  Only 
three  families  appear  in  the  Wrentliam  records.  Benj.amin  and 
Sarah  (whose  second  child  was  "  born  in  Stonintown,"  and 
"  Vinsaint "  and  Sarah),  who  had  :  Sarah,  born  24th  April,  1722  ; 
Vincent,  born  16th  December,  1727  ;  Marcy,  born  14th  February, 


218  HISTORY   OP   PRANKLtN. 

1736.  Ebenozer  and  Ruth,  of  tlie  Y.'est  Precinct  had  :  Ebenezer, 
Jr.,  born  16th  February,  1753 ;  and  Elizabeth,  2d  April,  1757. 
The  name  tliei-eaftcr  disajjpears  from  the  parish. 

THE    SLOCUM    FAMILY 

had  an  equally  brief  stay,  removing  mostly,  it  seems,  to  Medway. 
Simon,  while  he  staid,  was  a  jirominent  member  of  the  precinct 
and  filled  many  offices.  John  was  a  member  of  the  chui-ch. 
They-  were  ]irobably  brothers,  as  the  similarity  of  their  children's 
names  indicates  a  common  ancestry.  Thus,  Simon  by  his  wife 
Abigail  had :  Samuel,  Chloe,  Eleazer,  Metcalf,  and  Jeremiah. 
There  is  no  record  except  of  their  baptism.  Jolm  married  Ex- 
perience Ilealy  and  had  :  Simon,  Billy,  George,  John,  Experience, 
and  Chloe.  John  carried  jiart  of  his  family  to  Sutton,  Simon 
to  Medway. 

Billy  or  William,  born  22d  A]>ril,  1750,  married  Jeruslia  Rich- 
ardson and  had  eleven  children,  four  of  whom  were  born  in 
Franklin,  the  remainder  in  Sutton. 

William,  Jr.,  boin  5th  February,  1783,  in  Franklin,  married 
Selah  Cushing,  and  in  1816  migrated  to  Marietta,  O.  (See  bio- 
graphical sketclies.) 

THE    THAYER    FAMILY 

came  into  town  early  in  1800,  in  the  person  of  Nathaniel,  who 
lived  at  Unionville,  and  did  much  to  build  up  that  then  little 
manufacturing  village  called  "The  Street"  in  connection  with 
the  Makepeaces  and  Rockwoods.  He  had  at  least  five  sons  of 
like  proclivities  with  himself. 

Asa  and  Davis  formed  a  partnership  in  the  straw  business  at 
the  Center,  as  described  in  the  section  on  industries.  Horace, 
after  a  season,  opened  the  Franklin  Hotel  in  the  Asa  Fisher 
house,  at  the  foot  of  the  Common.  Fisher  engaged  in  thread 
and  other  business,  and  accumulated  quite  a  property.  Nathan- 
iel, .Tr.,  also  removed  to  the  Center,  where  some  of  his  family 
still  reside. 

Davis,  Major,  married  Betsey,  a  sister  of  William  Makepeace. 
A  view  of  his  house  is  given  in  the  section  on  industries,  and  a 
portrait  of  himself  is  affixed  opposite.  He  had  eight  children, 
of  whom  only  four  reached   maturity:     Deborah   ]iurrell,  born 


1 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTICES. 


279 


17th  October,  1R13  ;  married  Wilkes  Gay,  Jr.,  and  died  ;  Davis, 
Jr.,  born  •i4th  October,  1815,  married  Mary  M.,  daughter  of 
Joseph  Whiting.  Emery,  birth  not  recorded ;  married  and  resided 
in  Charleston,  S.  C,  but  now  resides  in  Franklin.  William  M., 
born  •i4th  February,  1820  (see  biographical  notices)  ;  his  portrait 


KESIDENCE    OF   DAVIS   THAYEIt,    JU. 


is  given  in  the  group  of  the  Centennial  Committee.  Betsey  Ann, 
born  6th  .Tune,  1822,  married  William  E.  Whiting.  The  four 
members  of  tliis  family  live  contiguously  to  the  homestead,  and 
on  tlic  same  street.  The  four  residences  form  a  fine  addition  to 
the  village.  A  view  of  the  residence  of  Davis  Thayer,  Jr.,  is 
given  above. 


280  HISTORY   OF   FRANKLIN. 

THE     TnURSTON    FAMILY 

is  represented  among  the  precinct  petitioners  by  Daniel,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  church,  1st  March,  1741.  Ilis  immigrant  ancestor 
probablj'  was  John,  of  Dedliam,  who  came  from  England  in  the 
"Mary  Ann,"  of  Yarmouth,  in  1637.  He  was  a  carpenter,  then 
aged  36,  and  brought  his  wife  Margaret  and  two  children,  Thomas 
and  .John.  lie  had  in  Dedham,  Jose])h,  Benjamin,  Mary,  and 
Judith.  The  children  of  John,  some  of  them,  settled  in  Medfield, 
whence  came,  1,  Thomas,  of  Wrentham. 

1.  Thomas  married  Mehitable.  She  died  in  Wrentham  11th 
August,  1692.  He  died  15th  December,  1704.  His  second  wife 
was  Esther.  Their  children  were :  Mehitable,  born  1st  August, 
1686;  Mary,  died  young;  Ichabod  lived  twenty  days  and  died 
two  days  before  his  mother.  By  second  wife  he  had :  David, 
born  20th  November,  1693  ;  2,  Daniel,  born  25th  September,  1695  ; 
Luke,  born  20th  April,  1698  ;  Esther,  born  21st  June,  1700  ;  Mary, 
born  3d  September,  1702. 

2.  Daniel  married,  9th  February,  1720,  Debor.ah,  daughter  of 
Ephraim  and  Deborah  (Hawes)  Pond.  She  was  an  original 
member  of  the  West  precinct  church.  He  had  five  children : 
Deborah,  born  21st  September,  1720,  died  22d  October,  1742  ;  3, 
Daniel,  born  1st  January,  1722  ;  Esther,  born  28th  June,  1723 ; 
married  Seth  Jones  (?).  David,  born  6th  May,  1726  ;  was  the 
first  pastor  of  the  church  in  West  Medway  ;  Eleoni,  born  19th 
May,  1728  ;  married  Jonathan  Whiting. 

3.  Daniel,  Jr.,  married,  13th  March,  1743,  Elizabeth  Whiting  ; 
was  chosen  deacon  of  the  West  precinct  ch.urch  3d  July,  1754, 
and  died  25th  June,  1785.  She  died  16th  September,  1806.  He 
had  thirteen  children  :  Deborah,  born  7th  February,  1745 ;  Molly, 
born  20th  July,  1746  ;  married  Daniel  Kingsbury.  Unity,  born 
7th  January,  1748 ;  married  Seth  Daniels.  4,  Daniel,  Jr.,  born 
11th  September,  1749.  5,  Abijah,  born  5th  July,  1751.  Abigail, 
born  6tli  March,  1754.  Chloe,  born  25th  March,  1758  ;  "  hanged 
herself  "  20th  July,  1793.  Elizabeth,  born  7th  February,  1760 ; 
mai-ried  Aquilla  Ivobbins,  of  Wrentham.  Caleb,  born  9th  Feb- 
ruary, 1760  (so  in  the  records).  David,  born  25th  April,  1762. 
Esther,  born  25th  May,  1764.  Lucretia,  born  24th  March,  1766; 
married  Nathan  Pond  and  died  in  Walpole   1st  March,  1824 ; 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTICES.  281 

.Tosej)li,  bom  26th  August,  1769.  Of  this  family,  except  Daniel 
and  Abijah,  we  know  nothing  further. 

14.  Daniel,  Jr.,  mai-ried  Susanna .  He  died  7th  No- 
vember, 1802.  Slie  died  31st  December,  1831.  They  had  six 
children  recorded  :  6,  Daniel,  born  22d  February,  1783;  Luke, 
born  5th  February,  1785,  and  married  Olive  Clark  ;  Paul,  born 
.5th  February,  1787  ;  Nahum,  born  24th  January,  1792 ;  Philo, 
born  15th  July,  1794,  married  Julia  M.,  daughter  of  Joseph  Dan- 
iels, and  went  with  his  brother  N.ahum  to  Union,  Me. ;  Johnson, 
born  9th  November,  1797. 

5.  Abijah  married  Rachel .     He  "fell  dead  "  10th  July, 

1812.  His  widow  died  21st  November,  1826.  They  had  six 
children  :  Vina,  born  30th  May,  1775,  married  Jesse  Gilmore ; 
Deborah,  born  3d  .June,  1777,  married  Jesse  Metcalf ;  Nancy, 
born  28th  May,  1779,  married  Tliaddeus  Hastings;  7,  Caleb,  born 
20th  June,  1781;  8,  David,  born  20th  September,  1784;  Julia, 
born  9th  November,  1788,  married  Asa  Rockwood. 

6.  Daniel  married  Bathsheba  iirintnall  of  Mansfield,  and  had 
twelve  children,  but  none,  excepting  possibly  Gilbert  Rodney, 
settled  in  town.  lie  was  a  boat-builder  in  South  Franklin.  The 
rest  went  West. 

7.  Caleb  married   Louisa  .     He  was   Colonel,  and  for 

years  kept  an  inn  upon  the  T.aunton  and  Worcester  stage  route 
on  the  Thurston  homestead.  He  had  seven  children,  all  but  one 
of  whom  died  in  childliood.  Abigail  Thompson,  born  24th 
April,  1817,  married  David  Ely,  and  left  town. 

8.  David  married  Miranda  Ellis.  He  died  25th  July,  1811, 
leaving  one  child,  Nancy,  born  18th  March,  1811.  His  widow 
became  the  second  wife  of  Jemotis  Pond.  None  of  the  name 
remains  in  town. 

THE  WAKE  FAMILY. 

Eleazer,  whose  name  appears  among  the  petitioners,  lived  in 
West  Franklin.  His  wife  was  one  of  the  earliest  members  of  the 
church.  He  was  son  of  Eleazer  and  M.ary,  and  grandson  of  John 
and  Mary,  original  settlers  of  Wrentham. 

1.  John  and  ]Mary  had  John,  born  at  Dedham  17th  June,  1670  ; 
Eleazer,  born  at  Wrentham  28tli  September,  1076  ;  and  probably 
others. 


282  HISTORY   OF   PRANKLTK. 

2.  Eleazer  and  Mary  had  :  3,  Eleazer,  Jr.,  born  11th  November, 
1701  ;  Jerusha,  born  8th  January,  1704  ;  Daniel,  born  2d  Novem- 
ber, 170G  ;  Mercy,  born  2d  March,  1708  ;  Hezekiah,  born  17th 
April,  1711;  Jerusha,  born  23d  June,  1714  ;  Mercy,  born  15tli 
February,  1717;  Abial,  born  19th  August,  1719. 

3.  Eleazer,  Jr.,  married  Hannah  M.an  20th  May,  1736.  lie  died 
8th  July,  1751.  They  had:  Hannah;  Jerusha;  4,  Billy,  born 
21st  March,  1743;  Ziba,  born  13th  December,  1744  ;  5,  Eli,  born 
31st  March,  1748  ;  Abial. 

4.  Billy   married   Sarah  ,  and   had  :    Am.asa,  born   12th 

October,  1780  ;  Lois,  baj)tized  5th  May,  1782  ;  and  Jerusha. 

5.  Eli  married  Tamar  Wight  27th  June,  1771 ;  and  lived  near 
Bellingham  line.  They  had  :  Sarah,  Phineas,  Margaret,  Hepzi- 
bah,  and  David. 

Jabez,  whose  birth  is  not  found  in  the  records  was,  with  his 
wife  Mary,  among  the  earliest  members  of  the  West  jireeinct 
church.  He  had  ten  children  ;  among  them  were :  Piiinoas, 
baptized  29tli  April,  1750;  Amos  baptized  30th  Mai-ch,  1760. 
Amos  married  Rachel  Pond  and  removed  to  Paxton.  He  was 
father  of  Harriet  Ware,  who  was  born  in  Pa.xton  12th  July,  1799, 
and  became  afterwai-ds  a  devoted  city  missionary  and  the  widely- 
known  first  superintendent  of  the  Children's  Home  in  Providence, 
R.  I.  She  alwaj's  claimed  Franklin  as  her  home.  She  died  26th 
June,  1847,  in  her  48th  year. 

Phineas,  "  Lieutenant,"  married  Susa  Hawes  and  had  :  Clarinda, 
married  Macy  Adams  and  removed  to  Walpole,  N.  H.  ;  Elvira; 
Warren  died  young;  Alfred,  born  30th  September,  1787,  married 
Ruth ,  and  died  soon  after ;  Philander,  born  12th  Novem- 
ber, 1789.  He  had  two  wives,  but  no  surviving  children.  He 
lived  on  the  homestead.  Of  this  house  Dr.  Emmons  said  it  was 
the  only  one  he  knew  large  enough  for  two  families.  Susan,  born 
29th  December,  1792,  and  died  5th  March,  1833.  Lieutenant 
Ware  died  17th  January,  1826.  His  wife  died  27th  September, 
1877.     This  branch  of  the  Wares  is  extinct  in  town. 

Jesse  and  Keziah  Ware,  of  another  branch,  had  nine  children  ; 
of  them  were  Amariah,  married  Eunice  Aldis,  and  had  :  Frederick 
Augustus,  born  29th  June,  1798,  married  Sarah  Morse  ;  Esther, 
born  8th  December,  1800  ;  Nathan,  27tli  December,  1807  ;  Eleazer, 
married  Sally ,  and  had  :  Sabin,  born  3d  July,  1812  ;  San- 


Genealogical  notices.  283 

ford,  marrietl,  but  without  children,  and  others.  Alfred,  birth 
unrecorded,  married  Jemima  Fislier,  and  had:  Emeline,  died 
early,  and  Alfred  Fisher.  His  house  is  now  owned  by  J.  L.  Fitz- 
patrick.  Samuel,  Jr.,  married  Olive  Daniels,  and  had  :  Olive  1)., 
who  married  Fisher  Richardson  ;  Samuel  Gilbert,  born  8th  March, 
1824.  The  descendants  of  the  once  tmmerous  Ware  family  have 
almost  entirely  disa])jieared  from  town. 

THE    WHITING    FAMILY. 

.  The  constant  recurrence  of  the  family  name  confounds  all  cer- 
tain arrangement  in  the  short  time  allowed  to  this  genealogical 
chajiter.  But  some  one  with  more  leisure  may  link  the  follow- 
ing circles  together :  — 

Joseph,  the  precinct  member,  was  evidently  the  son  of  Samuel 
and  JNIary,  and  born  7th  December,  170'2.  He  also  married  a 
Mary,  and  had  eiglit  children,  most  of  whom  died  in  early  life. 
Silence,  born  14th  March,  1731,  married  Abraham  Blake;  Abi- 
gail, born  2d  November,  1737,  married  Seth  Bacon.  No  sons 
seem  to  have  reached  maturity,  and  the  family  was  ended. 

In  the  church  is  John,  the  first  deacon  with  Daniel  Kingsbury. 
He  was  the  son  of  John  and  Mary,  original  settlers  of  Wrentham. 
John,  Sen.,  had  three  children  in  Wrentham  :  Nathaniel,  born  2d 
Februai-y,  1691,  married  Margaret  Man  ;  Mary,  born  14tli  Octo- 
ber, 1692  ;  2,  John,  Jr.,  "  deacon,"  born  16th  June,  1695. 

2.  Deacon  John  married  Mary  Wight,  24th  February,  1720. 
He  died  13th  February,  1755.  They  had  six  children:  Mary 
and  John  died  young;  Elizabeth,  born  18th  November,  1724, 
married  Daniel  Thurston  ;  Abigail,  born  5th  October,  1728  ;  3, 
Asa,  born  8th  June,  1731;  Esther,  born  25th  February,  1736. 

3.  Asa  married  Elizalieth  Fisher,  25th  June,  1756.  He  died 
22d  December,  1794.  She  died  16th  July,  1820.  They  had 
seven  children  :  4,  Asa,  born  4th  September,  1757  ;  Thaddeus, 
baptized  in  Franklin  24th  May,  1761;  Elizabeth,  baptized  same 
date,  married  William  Adaras;  Charlotte  married  John  Whiting 
of  Medway ;  Hannah  married  Timothy  Fisher,  Jr. ;  5,  Joseph 
baptized  1769  ;  John  ;  Nathan. 

4.  Asa,  Jr.,  married  Mary  Gilmore  11th  April,  1777,  and  had  : 
Salla  ;  Sydney,  born  18th  March,  1786,  married  Olive  Morse  and 
had  seven  children ;  Rebecca  McLane  ;  Hannah. 


284  HISTORY    OP   FRANgLt^f. 

5.  Joseph  married  Polly  Page  of  Walpole,  19th  ISTovember, 
1793.  They  had :  Asa,  Jr.,  born  22d  September,  1795,  married 
Betsey  W.  Boyd  ;  Polly  ;  6,  Joseph,  2d,  born  22d  April,  1798  ; 
Jairiis,  born  12th  March,  1800,  married  Mary  Cheney;  Sally  P., 
born  19th  March,  1802,  married  Joseph  F.  Gilmore ;  Lucj' ; 
Eliza. 

6.  Joseph,  2d,  married  Zeolide ,  and  had  :   Mary  Maria, 

married  Davis  Thayer,  .Tr. ;  William  Kustis,  married   Betsey  A. 
Thayer;  Zeolide  Elizabeth. 

Another  Franklin  family,  and  yet  jtrobably  not  another,  was 
that  of  Jonathan  and  Elonai  (Thurston)  Whiting.  They  had: 
Mary,  ba])ti7,cd  in  Franklin  11th  August,  1751 ;  Thurston  (see 
biographical  sketches);  John,  born  5th  January,  1755  ;  Jonathan, 
born  9th  April,  1757;  Abijali  (see  biographical  sketches).  Noth- 
ing further  a]ipears  of  this  line. 

Joseph,  Jr.,  was  apparently-  of  a  different  descent.  lie  mar- 
ried Elizabeth,  and  had:  Cornelius,  born  13th  April,  1756;  and, 
we  think,  1,  Jose]ih,  2d,  who  married  Ruth  Bacon  ;  as  also,  it 
may  be,  2,  Peter,  as  I  meet  with  no  more  likely  ancestry. 
Joseph,  Jr.,  was  also  deacon,  chosen  21st  July,  1779,  and  died  7th 
November,  1826.  Peter,  prcsum.ibly  his  son,  was  chosen  deacon 
14th  September,  1803,  and  died  9th  December,  1805. 

1.  Joseph,  2d,  married  Ruth  Bacon  14th  January,  1801,  and 
had:  Ruth  Adams,  born  22d  January,  1802;  Daniel  Peter,  born 
4th  March,  1807  ;  Joseph  Milton,  born  25th  February,  1813. 

2.  Dea.  Peter  married  Lydia  Blake  14th  December,  1769. 
No  record  of  his  children  is  found,  but  there  evidently  was  a 
Peter,  Jr.,  who  married  Anna  Sayles  12th  October,  1803,  and 
had:  Abigail,  born  23d  July,  1804;  Joseph  Blake,  born  14th 
September,  1807 ;  Peter,  3,  born  1st  June,  1809  ;  Lydia  Blake, 
born  9th  March,  1812 ;  3,  Willard  Clark,  born  7th  September, 
1815  ;  Deacon  of  South  Franklin  church ;  married,  first,  Char- 
lotte Miller  ;  second,  Olivia  Whiting,   of  Wrentham. 

3.  Willard  C.  married,  first,  Charlotte  Miller,  second  OHvia 
Whiting  of  Wrentham.  He  is  the  deacon  and  substantial 
member  of  the  church  in  South  Franklin. 

THE    WOODWAKD    FAMIT.T 

came  into  the  West  precinct  in  1756,  and  built  the  house  on  the 
farm  in  South  Franklin,  which  was  burned  in   1874.     The  first 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTICES.  285 

comer  was  Joseph,  of  Norton,  born  July,  1729,  and  tlie  son  of 
Israel,  of  Taunton,  born  in  1698,  and  grandsoTi  of  Israel,  the  son 
of  Israel  and  Jane  (Godfi-ey),  born  -Ith  October,  1674. 

1.  Joseph,  the  first  comer,  entered  the  Continental  army,  Init 
died  suddenly  in  service,  in  1778.  His  body  was  burie<l  in 
Franklin  cemetery  in  the  year  of  the  town's  incorporation, 
where  his  epitaph  speaks  well  for  his  devotion.  He  had  four 
children  :  Nathan,  Vjorn  February,  1758,  married,  but  left  no 
children  ;  he  was  in  the  Revolutionary  war  six  months  ;  he  died 
29th  February,  1836.  2,  James,  born  July,  1761;  Hannah,  nut 
married;  Rachel,  married  Abel  lillis,  of  Sutton. 

2.  James  married  Lois  Ellis  16th  December,  1783  ;  he  died 
7th  June,  1811.  He  had  ten  children :  Elvira,  born  10th 
October,  1786  ;  Joseph,  born  31st  July,  1788 ;  Elizabeth,  born 
2Utli  June,  1790  ;  3,  Austin,  born  21st  May,  1792;  Harvey,  born 
17th  September,  1794;  Alinira;  Lucretia,  now  in  Rockville, 
Medway ;  Alfred,  living  in  Norfolk  ;  Fanny,  born  7th  November, 
1806  ;  Preston,  born  19th  August,  1808. 

3.  Austin  married  Mary  Anne  Voax ;  he  died  in  1872,  aged 
80  years.  He  had  ten  children ;  of  these  four  are  dead  and 
two  only  remain  in  town  —  Amos  P.  and  Joseph  A.,  the  present 
efficient  postmaster. 

THE    WILSON    FAMILY. 

Of  these  brief  sojourners  we  have  only  these  few  notes:  — 

1.  Michael  married   Mary ,  and  had   six  children.     He 

died  31st  May,  1731.  His  wife  died  16th  May,  1738  :  Sara,  born 
18th  February,  1675;  Mary,  born  16th  February,  1677;  2,  Mi- 
chael, Jr.,  born  6th  February,  1681 ;  Silence,  died  young ;  Noah, 
born  4th  September,  1686;  Henry,  born  9th  April,  1690. 

2.  Michael,  Jr.,  married  Sarah  Bumpas,  of  Taunton,  13th  June, 
1707.  He  bought  and  settled  on  what  was  the  recent  Phipps 
farm.  He  had  four  children  :  Mary,  born  25th  July,  1713  ;  mar- 
ried Joshua  Daniels.  3,  Uriah,  born  14th  November,  1712. 
Beul.ih,  born  15th  May,  1715;  married  John  Peck.  4,  Lemuel, 
born  I2th  June,  1717. 

3.  Uriah  married  Mary  Guild  23d  March,  1737,  and  had  six 
children:  Sarah,  born  9th  June,  1739 ;  Betty,  born  19th  March, 


286  HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 

1741 ;  Joseph,  baptized  21st  April,  1745  ;  Deborah,  died  young  ; 
David,  born  12th  April,  1748;  Jerusha,  born  9th  June,  1751. 

4.  Lemuel  married  Rebecca,  and  had  five  children:  Benjamin, 
born  17th  July,  1746;  Phebe  and  Zebiah,  died  young;  Ilernion, 
baptized  10th  June,  1753  ;  Rebecca,  ba]itized  29th  Scjiteniber, 
1756.     She  was  the  latest  lingerer  in  town. 

Michael,  Jr.,  and  Uriah  were  se.\tons  of  the  old  First  church 
from  1738  to  1750. 

This  family  is  slightly  out  of  the  alphabetical  order,  liut  since 
its  successive  heads  faithfully  held  the  keys  of  the  meeting-house 
for  two  generations,  we  trust  the  raisarrangement  will  be  excused, 
for  who  but  the  sexton  should  so  properly  go  out  last  and  lock 
lip  these  glimpses  of  the  old  and  long-ago  departed  congregations  ? 


THE    END. 


GENERAL    INDEX, 


INTRODUCTION 

CENTENNIAL  ADDRESS 

ADDENDA 

BioGRAPHicAb  Sketches... 

Centennial  Celebration. 

Family  Genealogies 


PAQE. 
...      3 

...  5 
...  61 

....139 
...195 

,...224 


page. 

Act  of  Incorporation 41 

Bacon,  Rev.  Jacob 22 

Baptist  Clmrcli 99 

Barimm,  Rev.  Caleb Xi,  83 

Bellinghain  set  off 21 

Blaise,  Pbilip,  notice  of 124 

Biographical  Sketches 139 

Adams,  G.  A.,  Esq 139 

Adams,  Rev.  J 140 

Allen,  Prof.  A.  S 140 

Allen,  B.  F 141 

Aldis,  Judge  A 141 

Atwood,  Dr.  J.  F 145 

Bacon,  H 145 

Baker,  Rev.  Dr.  A.  R 14fi 

Baker,  D.  E 147 

Blake,  Rev.  Dr.  M 147 

Chapman,  Rev.  N 148 

Clark,  Dr.  G 148 

Gushing,  Rev.  J.  R 148 

Daniels,  Rev.  H.  M 148 

Daniels,  Rev.  W.  H 149 

Daniels,  W.  G 149 

Dean,  Dr.  0 150 

DeWitt,  Hon.  A 150 

Dyer,  Rev.  N.  T 151 

Emmons,  Judge  "W 151 

Fairbanks,  E.,  Esq 152 

Farr,  T.  P 152 

Fisher,  Prof.  A.  M 152 

Fisher,  Rev.  C.  R 154 

Fisher,  Hon.  G 15() 

Fisher,  Rev.  G 156 

Fisher,  Hon.  J 157 

Fisher,  L.  W.,  Esq 1.57 

Fisher,  Hon.  M.  M 1.58 

Fletcher,  A.  B 1P8 

Gilmore,  J.  R 159 

Harding.  Dr.  E 159 

Harris,  Rev.  Dr.  W 160 

Haven,  Rev.  T 160 

Hawes,  Rev.  A 160 


PACK. 

Biographical  Sketches  {cont.). 

Hawes,  P.,  Esq 161 

Heatou,  Rev.  I.  E 161 

Hixon,  Rev.  A 161 

Hooper,  Rev.  W 162 

Horton,  Rev.  Dr.  S.  J 162 

Hunt,  Rev.  S 88,  163 

Ide,  Rev.  Dr.  J 163 

Kidder,  Rev.  T 163 

Kingsbury,  Rev,  S 164 

Kingsbury,  Dr.  S.  A 164 

Leonard,  Rev.  H.  P 164 

Sethbridge,  Dr.  F 165 

Mann,  Hon.  H 165 

McFarland,  H.,  Esq 168 

Metcalf,  A 168 

Metcalf,  A.,  Esq 168 

Metcalf,  Dr.  E 169 

Metcalf,  E 169 

Metcalf,  Dr.  F 171 

Metcalf,  Dr.  J 171 

Metcalf,  Dr.  J.  G 171 

Metcalf,  Dr.  P 172 

Metc.ilf ,  Judge  T 172 

Metcalf,  Dr.  W.  P 173 

Metcalf,  Dr.  W.  W 173 

Miller,  Dr.  E.  D 174 

Miller,  Dr.  L.  L 174 

Miller,  Dr.  N 174 

Pennell,  Prof.  C.  S 175 

Phipps,  Rev,  G.  G 177 

Phipps,  Rev.  W 176 

Pond,  Dr.  B 177 

Pond,  Rev.  D 178 

Pond,  Dr.  E 178 

Pond,  Dr.  E.  A 178 

Pond,G.C 179 

Pond,  Dr.  M.  E 179 

Pond,  S.  M.,  Esq 179 

Pond,  T 179 

Pratt,  Dr.  J.  L.  S 179 

Pratt,  S.  A.,  Esq 180 


288 


HISTORY    OF    FRANKLIN. 


PAGE. 

Biographical  Sketches  (cont.). 

Preston,  Rev.  J.  B 180 

Kay,  MissL.  P 181 

Bay,  W.  F 181 

Richardson,  A.  D 181 

Richardson,  Rev.  A.  M 182 

Richardson,  C.  A 183 

Richardson,  Dr.  E 183 

Richardson,  Prof.  H.  B 183 

Richardson,  Rev.  W.  T 184 

Robinson,  Kev.  E.  W 184 

Rockwood,  F.  E.,  Esq l»r) 

Rockwood,  L.  P.,  Esq 185 

Bussegue,  Dr.  H 185 

Sayles,  G.  L.,  Esq 185 

Sayles,  H.  L.,  Esq 185 

Sayles,  L.,  Esq 185 

Slocum,  W 18G 

Smalley,  G.  W 18(i 

Tenney,  Dr.  J.  W 187 

Thayer,  Dr.  C.  H 187 

Thayer,  Rev.  W.  M 188 

Thompson,  Kev.  E 189 

Wheaton,  Kev.  J 189 

Whiting,  A.,  Esq 189 

Whiting,  N.,  Esq 190 

Whiting,  Rev.  S 1!)0 

Whiting,  Rev.  T 190 

Wilder,  Hon.  M.  P 190 

Winslow,  C 192 

Burying-grounds 63 

Catalogue  of  Franklin's  Donation-  70 

Catechisings,  Annual 74 

Catholic  church 95,  100 

Centennial  Celebration 195 

Center  of  the  town  surveyed 28,  .54 

Citizen  soldiery 135 

Civil  history 62 

Common,  purchase  of 65 

Congregational  church 80 

Continental  soldiers 123 

Continental  money 53 

Council  on  hymn-books 35,  82 

Cow-common  rights 73 

Daniels,  notice  of  Fisher 239 

Dean  Academy 77 

Dedham,  settlement  of 8 

Ecclesiastical  History 80 

Emmons,  Rev.  Dr.  N 37,  84 

Emmons  monument 64 

Exeter,  first  name  of  Franklin 43 

Felting  business 113 

First  settlers  of  Wrentham 13 

Fisher,  notice  of  Willis 246 

Franklin  Academy 76 

Census  of 62 

Clmrch  org<anized 26 

Earliest  settlers 25 

First  mill  in 110 

First  preaching 22 

First  town-meeting 52 

Incorporation  as  Precinct 23 

Incorporation  as  Town 41 

Industries  of 110 

Name  of 43 


PAOB. 

Franklin  {coutinved). 

Petitioners  for  Precinct 26 

Petitioners  for  Town 40 

Topography  of 61 

Why  so  named 43 

Genealogical  Notices 224 

Adams  Family 228 

Allen  Family 231 

Bacon  Family 231 

Baker  Family 232 

Blake  Family 234 

Clark  Family 236 

Daniels  Family 238 

Darling  Family 240 

Fairbank  Family 240 

Fisher  Family 241 

Fitzp.atrick  Family 249 

Gay  Family 249 

Greene  Family 251 

Hall  Family 251 

Hawes  Family 251 

Hills  Family 254 

Jones  Family 2,55 

Kingsbury  Family 256 

Lawrence  Family 257 

Makepeace  Family  2.58 

Mann  F.imily 258 

Metcalf  Family 259 

Miller  Family 262 

Morse  Family 263 

Newe  Family 264 

Partridge  Family 2(i4 

Pond  Family 2(>5 

Ray  Family 273 

Richardson  Family 273 

Rockwood  Family •. .  .276 

Shuttleworth  Family 277 

Slocum  Family 278 

Thayer  Family 278 

Thurston  Family 280 

Ware  Family 281 

Whiting  Family 283 

Woodward  Family 284 

Wilson  Family 285 

Gowen,  John,  notice  of 124 

Grace  church  (Universalist) 97 

Grant  of  Territory 8 

Haven,  Rev.  Elias 26,  80 

Horse  sheds 29 

Hunt,  Rev.  S.amuel 88 

Hymn-book  war 34,  82 

Indian  deeds 15 

Indian  Rock  encounter 17 

Indian  Rock  celebration 18 

Industrial  statistics 110 

Industrial  statistics  for  1875 114 

Instructions  to  Representatives  in 

1776 48 

Keene,  Rev.  Luther 89 

Lands  purchased 6,  13,  15 

Lawyers  in  town 192 

Library,  donation  of 44,  69 

Library,  public 72 

Man,  Rev.  Hezekiah 22 

Man,  Rev.  Samuel 16,  20 


INDEX. 


289 


PAGE. 

Maps  of  the  town (i7 

McLane's  execution 125 

Meeting-house,  First 26,  27 

Jleeting-Iiouse,  Second 37,  54,  90 

Meeting-house,  inside  view 55 

Meeting-house,  Third 95 

Messenger,  Rev.  Henry 20 

Methodist  church 102 

Military  history 119 

Ministerial  fund 104 

Minute-men  of  1775 120 

Museum  of  relics 222 

Muster  day  on  the  Common 136 

Nason,  notice  of  Geo.  W 237 

Newspajters  in  town 114 

Newton,  notice  of  John 124 

Old  way  of  singing 30 

Pelton,  Rev.  Geo.  A 89 

Physicians  in  town 192 

Pond,  David's  singing. trouble 31 

Pond,  Elihu,  notice  of 123 

Poor  and  poor-house 40,  69 

Post-offlce,  history  of 79 

Precinct,  first  moves  for 21,  23 

Printing-press,  first 161 

Public  morals 107 

Public  officers,  lists  of 115 

Rebellion  record 129 

Rebellion,  town  action 126 

Representatives  instructed 48 

Representatives,  list  of 118 

Revolutionary  soldiers 123 

Revolutionary  war 50 

Sabbath  breaking 109 

Sarah  Indian 14 


PAGE. 

Saw-mill,  first 110 

School  Committee,  list  of 117 

School,  first  in  Wrentham  20 

School  Districts 75 

School,  High 77 

Schools,  Public 21,  72 

Shoe  business 114 

Singing,  old  way  of .30 

Smalley,  Rev.  Elam 87 

"  Society  for  Reform,  of  Morals  ".  .107 

South  Congregational  church 9() 

Southworth,  Rev.  T.  D 87 

Stamp  Act,  resolves  on 46 

Standing  in  the  porches 108 

Straw-bonnet  manufacture 112 

Swedenborgian  meeting 104 

Temperance  reform 109 

Tithing-men 107 

Title  to  the  soil 6,  13,  15 

Topography  of  Franklin 61 

Town  industries 110 

Valuations  from  1786 115 

Volunteers  against  the  Rebellion..  .129 

Votes  on  political  issues 68 

"Ware,  notice  of  Harriet 282 

War  of  1812 126 

War  of  the  Rebellion 127 

War  of  the  Revolution 51 

Whittaker,  L.  R.,  notice  of 127 

Wollomonopoag  settled 11 

Wollomonopoag  purchased 13 

Wrentham  burnt 17 

Wrentham,  first  school-house 20 

Wrentham  incorporated 16 

Wrentham  re-settled 17 


19 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE. 

Portrait  of  Rev.  M.  Blake,  D.  D frontispiece. 

Maps  of  Ancient  Wrentham  and  Franklin Opposite    67 

View  of  Dean  Academy "  78 

Portrait  of  Kev.  N.  Emmons,  D.  D "  84 

View  of  Dr.  Emmons'  house "  86 

View  of  Old  Meeting-house 92 

View  of  New  Congregational  Church Opposite    96 

View  of  Grace  Church  (Universalist) 98 

View  of  Baptist  Church 100 

View  of  Catholic  Church 101 

View  of  Methodist  Church 103 

View  of  Major  Davis  Thayer's  Store  and  House Opposite  113 

View  of  the  Ray  Block "        114 

View  of  Fletcher's  Block "        116 

View  of  Aldis'  House  and  Store 146 

Portrait  of  Dr.  O.  Dean Opposite  150 

Portrait  of  Hon.  George  Fisher "        156 

Portrait  of  Hon.  M.  M.  FLsher "         158 

Portrait  of  Rev.  S.  J.  Horton,  D.  D "        162 

Portrait  of  Hon.  Horace  Mann "        166 

Portrait  of  Dr.  E.  D.  Miller "        174 

Portrait  of  Dr.  L.  L.  Miller "        175 

Portrait  of  Dr.  N.  Miller "        176 

Residences  of  Messrs.  J.  P.  &  J.  R.  Ray "        181 

Portrait  of  Hon.  M.  P.  Wilder "        liK) 

View  of  the  Miller  Hospital "        193 

Portraits  of  Centennial  Committee  (two  plates) "        195 

View  of  the  Baker  Homestead "        233 

Portrait  of  Capt.  D.  Baker "        234 

Portrait  of  G.  W.  Nason "         237 

View  of  F.  Daniel's  Homestead "        239 

Portrait  of  Fisher  Daniels "        240 

Autograph  of  Hon.  J.  Fisher 242 

Coat  of  Arms  of  Fisher  Family 243 

Portrait  of  Willis  Fisher,  Esq Opposite  246 

Residence  of  J.  L   Fitzpatrick 249 

Residence  of  H.  M.  Greene,  Esq 250 

View  of  the  Hawes  Homestead 252 

View  of  the  Alfred  Knapp  Homestead 253 

Birthplace  of  Hon.  Horace  Mann Opposite  258 

Portrait  of  W.  Makepeace,  Esq "        259 

View  of  Nathan  Metcalf  Homestead "        261 

View  of  Dr.  Miller  Homestead "        262 

Portrait  of  J.  G.  Ray "        272 

Residence  of  S.  W.  Richardson "        274 

Portrait  of  S.  W.  Richardson "        276 

View  of  the  Makepeace  Homestead "        277 

Portr.ait  of  Maj.  D.  Thayer "        278 

Residence  of  D.  Thayer,  Jr 279 


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